News and Insights

Buying a home is a huge commitment and it can bring many sleepless nights. For most us, it will be the biggest purchase of our lifetime, so it’s only natural to feel worried. Before you sign on the dotted line, it’s important to consider the costs associated with your future home.

1. The value of your deposit

In Jersey, property prices can be intimidating, even if they are within your budget. Luckily, you only have to pay a percentage of the price to secure your future property. Once you have eventually saved enough for the property you desire, you will be able to take the next step by looking into securing your mortgage.

2. Mortgage Proposals

Prior to making a serious offer on a property, it’s important that you’ve had your mortgage proposal approved. As a potential buyer, it’s unfair to the seller if you make an offer without having completed your financial preparations.

3. Stamp Duty

When purchasing your property, you may be subject to stamp duty. Stamp duty is not affected by the price of your future property, but by the amount you borrow. If your property is worth less than £600,000 you won’t need to worry about stamp duty. For those who are spending more than £600,000 it’s a different story. This year has seen a rise in stamp duty tax which is as a result of the increase in the first-time buyers cap.

4. Conveyancing fees

Throughout the duration of your property purchase, your conveyancer will be busy preparing and approving the legal contracts, checking title and boundary information and carrying out legal searches with local authorities and utility companies to ensure that all of the necessary information and paperwork is correct.

Conveyancing fees are something that should not be forgotten about. The exact figure will be dependent on the scale and complexity of the move. Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to service.

5. To survey or not to survey

 When acquiring bricks and mortar, we suggest you take the same approach as you would when buying a car to identify any likely complications. There are three surveys available:

1. Valuation Survey – this will determine how much the property is worth. If you require a mortgage the bank will ask for this.
2. Homebuyers Survey – this provides detail about the structure and condition of the property.
3. Building Survey - this provides an in-depth analysis of the condition of the property.

6. The bottom line

Before you begin house hunting, you should get an understanding of the potential costs and time frames that you will be facing. Moving should be an exciting time, being realistic about timescales and what you can afford will help to reduce the stress of the overall experience.