Giant piggy bank

A question about : Giant piggy bank

I started the buying process for my very first flat back in August, it's still going through the solicitors and my hope of getting the keys by the time my flat rental is up at the start of Dec is slowly fading. Oh well, everything but the clothes on my back into storage and off to the patents I will go. Figured I may as well start up a diary now to keep track of things

So, for now, here's the mortgage offer

Property value: Ј194,000
Purchase price: Ј193,000
Borrowing: Ј182,350 + Ј999 fees= Ј183,349
Term: 30 years
Fixed rate of 5.19% ends 31/12/16 then variable rate
First payment: Ј1418.46
25 payments: Ј1001.33
334 payments: Ј878.00 (depending on variable rate but currently 3.99%)
Total repayable : Ј320,808.98!!!!!!!

I'll be allowed to overpay up to 10% and underpay up to the amount I've overpayed.

I was paying Ј1000pm rent in my last flat and saving Ј300-Ј700pm towards my deposit so know I can afford to overpay without having to sell my kidneys but hoping this diary will help me stay in track as Ј320k is WAAAAAY too much! I'm going to treat the flat as a piggy bank and try and get a decent amount of equity into it in the next 2 years.

Best answers:

• Oh and a quick intro about me, I'm 31, female, single, no kids and I'm very lucky that I have a good job and no debts.
  I do all my spending on my tesco credit card and it gets paid off every month.
  I'm rubbish at remembering to spend my points though but did remember to trade in Ј50 for Ј150 of storage vouchers, this SHOULD cover me till I can move out, just a bit miffed I'll have to get a van twice to get everything into then out of storage, there's a small chance a mate might be able to borrow a van from his work but it depends on my shifts and his.
  Oh and I know the mortgage might not look great but it's the best deal several brokers came up with.
  I did have Ј20,000 in savings but my parents needed some help so I leant them Ј8,000 that they are paying back at Ј200pm for now until my dads pensions all change next year and he'll pay back a bit more. I've told them not to stress over it though as it won't effect (or is it affect, I'm not very good with words sometimes) my way of life. I'll be using that money as my base overpayment.
  I'm also on lots of survey sites, need to get back into swagging, I'm with quidco and also part of a really good cash back site through my work that I can order reload able voucher card thingies at % off so I try to plan my clothes shopping and load up my cards for NLook and m&s etc
  That's a really rambly post, sorry, just getting my thoughts down
• Good luck with the purchase I hope it goes smoother than mine did which was 17 months from offer to completion but I knew quite early on there were issues that were going to delay it significantly just didn't realise quite how long that delay would be!
  Also while you are at your parents put what your mortgage payment will be in a savings account and you'll already have your first overpayment ready to go once the completion goes through.
• Ouch! I really hope it doesn't take that long! I think I'm just being very impatient though as I worked out its only been 10wks since the offer was accepted and I read somewhere that the current average is 15wks. So, fingers crossed I'll only be back there a few weeks. I just want to get in and I have a strange urge to get a Xmas tree and all the decorations even though im not really a xmassy person and I spend Xmas day and Boxing Day at my parents anyway. I must control these decorating urges till I'm at least living there!
  On the topic of Xmas I am very lucky that my family isn't really bothered about presents (same for birthdays) we buy little things for each other through the year when we actually need them or we take each other out for dinner or days out. We might get a couple of silly little stocking gifts and the obligatory socks for dad but nothing much.
  Although thinking about this now in the moneysaving mindset it's not great for budgeting I guess and when it comes to my parents I tend to not think too much about spending on them, they never ask for anything expensive and I always price check and get cash back where I can but I tend to insist on paying for dinners, or shopping etc. I just know how much they struggled when I was a kid and kind of feel that now I have a well paid job it's my turn to look after them. This is one area of my spending I'm just not sure I'll be able to reign in. Although I did manage to stop myself the other day when she said she wanted a new laptop as her pc was pretty much dead, I researched suitable ones for her, took her to have a play in a computer shop picked one out and any peripherals she needed. Went home, printed off some 8% off gift cards that I can get through work, went back the next day and made sure we spent just over the value of the cards and put the rest on my credit card then she gave me a cheque to cover it all and for the first time I actually cashed it!
  Right that's enough waffling for today, night
• Hello Newme welcome!
  I think it took us 13 weeks to purchase our house, and it probably would have taken longer except we really pushed to move (I was really ill) and our vendors ended up moving into their new house before they'd completed on the purchase! I hope you are moved in time for Christmas
  Have you a target in mind for how much you'd like to overpay each month or is it just every little helps?
  Will try to keep up with your diary!
• Hi, thanks for reading my waffling.
  For a start the Ј200 pm my dad pays back and hopefully a min of Ј200 of my wages. I've also got boxes and boxes of stuff to fleabay so anything I make from that but I do want to make sure I'm still putting some into emergency savings. I guess at some point I should try and do an SOA so I can really work out what I've got.
• A SOA is definitely helpful if you've not done one before! it can be quite eye opening to see what is going where and then seeing how much you can cut back.
• Must not hunt down solicitors
  Must not hunt down solicitors
  Must not hunt down solicitors
  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
  Rang a while ago to get an update, was told all the searches were back and the conveyancer was looking over them and I'd get a report in a few days to look over and sign.
  Rang again today as still no sign of anything after three weeks! "We hope to have it back by Thursday" oh really? Well excuse me for being a little disbelieving but you've told me before it'll just be a few days. "I'll contact them and ask them to make you a priority" hmmmm I won't hold my breath.
  I fully understand that I'm not the only client and that leasehold properties have a lot of paperwork that needs checking but I'm so fed up of calling them and feeling like nothing is being done. They still haven't even updated the online milestone report I can log on to since 17/10!!
• Im hoping after I had a rant at her today she'll get who ever is dealing with the paper work to pull their finger out.
• I think my solicitor was glad to see the back of me when my sale finally completed although I think she felt sorry for me for how long it took! It was one of her longest cases.
  I didn't call them everyday like I hear some people do but when I knew something was expected I'd call to follow up with what was happening and what the next step would be. I think it's definitely worth calling them to make sure they are on top of things and to ensure nothings holding up the sale. I also found if there was a delay on the vendors side giving the EA a call would sometimes help push things along or they could give me an update on when to expect the paperwork from them. As you are buying the flat the delays can also come from the freeholder. The reason my sale took so long in the end was solely due to the freeholder taking a long time to respond to anything. As the freeholder for my place was the local council I got my councillor involved to move things along. Unfortunately there's lots of different people involved in the transaction which means things are unlikely to go completely smoothly but you will find once everything is ready it will move forward really quickly.
  Good luck and I hope it is completed soon for you
• I agree, sometimes they need chasing! You're right, they have lots of clients but things can drag out to a ridiculous level if you don't follow things up.
• They'll get another call on Friday, I wouldn't mind if they said its taking so long because of X, Y, Z but the constant replies of "it's with the conveyancer, there's a lot to look over" are wearing thin.
• Well after my moan, I've just checked my email and they've sent me 3 reports and said the rest will be in the post in a few days for me to look over and sign
  PROGRESS!!!!
• Oh my god! The paperwork all just crashed through my door. Wish I hadn't been in such a rush this is all crazy, I've only had a quick flick through it and I feel dizzy.
• Chase them every day. I takes a stupid amount of time anyway. Don't let other little delays get built in.
  Double check every document. Estate agaent screwed someone name up on one document and set me back a week.
• Yeah, I've already found a mistake, only a small one but one that needs checking. Hoping to get a few hours tomo and Sunday before work to have a proper look through everything and try and make some sense of it
• All the paperwork got sent off on Friday so hoping things will really start moving now
  Well I'm praying it will as I moved back to my parents on Friday and things are already a little tense
• Good luck I hope it's all completed soon, has your solicitor given you an expected exchange date yet?