First Time Buyers – DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES!

Transcript

Hi, I’m Ruban Selvanayagam from Property Solvers.

Buying your first home is one of the biggest financial commitments you’ll ever make. And in 2026, the process has become more complex than at any point in recent memory.

With over two decades as cash buyers and auctioneers, my business partner James Durr and I have seen just how challenging it’s become.

So in this video, I want to walk through 10 mistakes that first-time buyers often make – and more importantly, what you should do instead.

Let’s get into it…

Mistake No. 1 – Not Exploring All Your Mortgage Options

This is where quite a few first-time buyers get it wrong before they’ve even started looking at properties.

The instinct is often to go straight to your own bank. It feels familiar, safe and simple. But your bank only offers its own products – and, in a market where rates vary enormously, that could mean you end up paying significantly more than you need to over the life of your mortgage.

The smarter move is to use a whole-of-market broker. These are advisors who can compare products across dozens of lenders, including deals not available directly to the public. Many charge no upfront fees as they earn commission from the lender when you proceed.

AI-powered mortgage tools have also become more useful. Platforms like Habito, Trussle and others now use algorithms to scan the market in real time, flagging suitable products based on your household income, deposit, and other financial circumstances.

They’re not a replacement for good advice, but they can help you understand what’s realistically available before you talk with a broker.

One thing I’d encourage every first-time buyer to accept early on: mortgage rates are not going back to the historic lows of 2020 and 2021.

During the pandemic era, two-year fixed rates below 2% became the norm – but that period was deeply unusual in historical terms. Indeed, for most of the pre-2008 era, rates of 4 to 6% were entirely standard. What we’re seeing now is simply a move back toward more normal conditions.

So framing your purchase around current rates – rather than waiting for a return to 1.5% that almost certainly isn’t coming – is the most practical foundation you can build on.

Mistake No. 2 – Viewing Properties Without an Agreement in Principle

Before you step inside a single property, you should have a Mortgage Agreement in Principle or AIP in place.

Sometimes called a Decision in Principle or DIP – this is a written indication from a lender that, based on a preliminary check of your post tax income and credit, they would be willing to lend you a certain amount. It is not a formal mortgage offer, but it tells you – and any seller – that you’re a credible buyer.

Without one, you risk falling in love with a property you may not be able to afford. What’s more, sellers and agents will often prioritise buyers who are mortgage-ready over those who haven’t started the process.

Getting an AIP typically takes a day or two. It involves a soft credit check in most cases, which doesn’t impact your credit score. There’s no good reason to delay it.

One more thing: once you have your AIP, be careful not to push yourself to the absolute maximum the lender will offer.

Just because a bank is willing to lend you a certain amount, that doesn’t mean you should borrow it – especially if you feel like you could end up overstretching yourself. Build in a buffer for rate changes, unexpected repairs, and the general cost of being a homeowner for the first time.

Mistake No. 3 – Skipping or Underestimating the Survey

A survey is not a legal requirement in England and Wales. And every year, thousands of first-time buyers skip it, or choose the cheapest option available, and end up paying the price.

There are three RICS survey levels. A Level 1 Condition Report flags obvious issues but is not majorly detailed. A Level 2 HomeBuyer Report goes further, highlighting defects and risks. A Level 3 Building Survey is the most comprehensive and is strongly recommended for older properties or those in need of work.

I’ll add a video on the different types of surveys in the show notes, along with a form you can use to access competitive quotes in your area.

But the most common mistake is choosing a Level 1 or Level 2 survey on a property that warrants a Level 3. A few hundred pounds saved upfront can easily translate into tens of thousands in unexpected repair costs after you’ve moved in.

One point worth emphasising: the mortgage valuation your lender carries out is not a survey. It is an assessment of whether the property is adequate security for the loan. It will not tell you whether the roof is failing, the electrics are outdated, or the walls have damp. Those are things only a proper survey will reveal.

If a survey uncovers significant issues, it may make sense to use the findings to renegotiate. In many cases, sellers may be willing to reduce the purchase price to reflect the cost of remedial work – or they may demonstrably offer to resolve issues before exchange.

And if it doesn’t make sense anymore or things look like they’re becoming too messy and drawn out, there’s nothing stopping you from walking away – but keep it fair and evidence-based.

The deposit and the purchase price are the numbers first-time buyers focus on. But the real cost of buying a home involves a long list of additional expenses that many people either underestimate or don’t factor in at all.

So let’s run through the main ones.

So here’s the good news, as a first-time buyer, you currently pay no stamp duty on the first £300,000, provided the property is £500,000 or less – with a 5% rate applying between £300,000 and £500,000.

If the price exceeds £500,000, the relief disappears entirely, so it’s important to factor that into your budget appropriately if you’re buying a more expensive property.

Regarding conveyancing fees, our Property Solvers research earlier this year found average costs of around £1,300 to £1,400 for freehold and £1,600 to £1,700 for leasehold transactions – although some solicitors charge as much as £3,600 to £3,950, typically in London and the South East.

We’ll include a link to our findings in the show notes, along with a form to help you access some recommended quotes.

Survey costs range from around £400 to £500 Level 1 report to over £1,500 for a full building or Level 3 survey on a large or complex property. These tend to vary region by region also.

Mortgage arrangement fees, broker fees, and valuation charges vary by lender and product – but can often get added to the loan.  Nonetheless, these unfortunately have notably risen in recent years.

Then there are removal costs, buildings insurance, initial maintenance and repairs, and the often-overlooked cost of furnishing a home that may be considerably larger than a rental.

According to research by Which?, the average first-time buyer underestimates total buying costs by around £5,000 to £10,000. Our advice is always to add a 15 to 20% buffer on top of whatever figure you arrive at – because something unexpected almost always comes up.

Mistake No. 5 – Falling in Love With a Property at the Viewing

This is one of the most human mistakes on this list – and one of the most expensive.

When you walk into a property that feels right – the light, the layout, the street, the kitchen – it’s easy for emotion to take over. You start imagining your life there before the viewing is even over. And from that point, objectivity becomes very difficult to maintain.

We’ve seen buyers overlook structural issues because the decor was beautiful. Others overbid because they feared losing a property to another buyer. And we’ve seen people ignore survey findings because they’d already mentally moved in.

The discipline required is to view every property with the same professional detachment a surveyor or investor would bring. This goes beyond your gut feeling and asking practical questions.

What’s the boiler situation? How old is the roof and other external elements? Are the windows also double-glazed? Which direction does the garden face? What are the neighbours like?

If possible, visit at different times of day and in different weather. A property that feels perfect on a sunny Saturday morning can look very different on a wet Tuesday evening.

And if you find yourself making decisions under pressure – because an agent is telling you there are other interested parties, or because you’ve already lost one or two properties – take a breath. Rushed purchases driven by fear of missing out have a habit of becoming expensive regrets.

Mistake No. 6 – Not Negotiating

In 2026, buyers have more negotiating power than at any point in the last eight years.

According to Zoopla, there are currently over 650,000 homes on the market nationally – around 25 to 30% above pre-pandemic norms. At the same time, around 40% of sellers have already reduced their asking price to attract interest.

In that context, accepting an asking price without question is leaving money on the table.

That doesn’t mean making an insultingly low offer. It means doing your homework. For instance, look at what comparable properties have actually sold for in the last 90 days – not asking prices, but completed sales from the Land Registry (available on the portal itself or on Rightmove Sold House Prices pages, amongst others).

Remember to look at condition, size, garden space, location etc. but – if the property is priced well above those comparables – that’s a reasonable basis for negotiation.

At the end of the day, the worst that sellers can say is “no”.

Mistake No. 7 – Choosing the Cheapest Solicitor

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership from one person to another. It’s also the part of the purchase where most transactions slow down, fall apart, or go wrong.

The temptation for first-time buyers is to go with the cheapest quote – particularly when they’re already stretched on deposit, fees and moving costs. But conveyancing is not an area where saving 200 odd pounds is worth the risk.

A slow or unresponsive solicitor can add weeks or months to a transaction. In a market where sellers sometimes accept competing offers if a sale stalls, that delay can cost you the property entirely.

And in complex situations – leasehold purchases, properties with title issues, or where the searches reveal anything of concern – an inexperienced conveyancer can introduce issues that slow the process down and make things more complicated than they need to be.

Ask your solicitor specific questions before instructing them. How many conveyancers will be working on your file? What’s the current average time from instruction to completion? Will you have a direct contact, or will your queries be handled by a call centre or a para legal “managing the file”?

Word of mouth, referrals and verified reviews matter more here than the headline price. A solicitor who charges £200 more but moves at twice the speed will almost always deliver better value.

Mistake No. 8 – Buying a New Build Without Understanding the Premium

New builds are attractive for obvious reasons. Everything is clean, modern, energy-efficient, and under warranty. For many first-time buyers, the idea of moving in without the need for immediate work is genuinely appealing.

But new builds come with a premium – and it’s one of the most important things to understand before you commit.

Research by the Home Builders Federation suggests new builds typically command a premium of 15 to 20% over comparable second-hand properties in the same area. That premium often erodes quickly once the property is no longer “new”. This means that in the short term, your property could fall in value even while the wider market stays flat or rises.

There are also issues specific to new build purchases that first-time buyers often discover too late. Snagging – the process of identifying and getting the developer to fix defects before and after completion – is more complex and time-consuming than most buyers expect.

Delays to completion dates are common, which can create problems if you’re in rented accommodation with a fixed-term tenancy ending.

Help to Buy equity loans, which were used to make new builds somewhat more accessible, have now been closed for some years. So it’s worth doing careful due diligence on whether the price you’re being quoted genuinely represents good value in your local market – rather than being driven by the developer’s margin.

Mistake No. 9 – Buying a Flat Without Checking the Lease, Service Charges and Ground Rent

Flats remain one of the most accessible entry points to the property market for first-time buyers. They’re often well located, more affordable per square foot, and to a certain degree easier to maintain than a house.

But buying a flat comes with a set of considerations that don’t apply to freehold purchases – and first-time buyers regularly underestimate how much these can affect both their experience of owning the property and its future saleability.

The first thing to check is the lease length. Most mortgage lenders require a minimum unexpired lease term of around 90 years at the point of purchase.

Although you may find a lender that could move forward with a lower term, remember a flat with 85 years remaining might seem fine today, but by the time you come to sell in 10 years, it could be approaching a level where buyers struggle to get a mortgage.

Extending a lease costs a notable sum of money – and the closer you get to 80 years, the more expensive and complex that process becomes.

Service charges are the fees paid to the freeholder or managing agent for maintenance and upkeep of communal areas. They can vary enormously – from a few hundred pounds a year to several thousand – and they can increase without much notice. Always request the last three years’ service charge accounts before exchange.

Ground rent is an annual payment to the freeholder that, in older leases, can escalate significantly over time. Doubling ground rent clauses – where ground rent doubles every 10 or 25 years – made many flats unsellable and unmortgageable in recent years.

While the Leasehold Reform Act 2024 begins to address some of these issues – particularly around new ground rents and transparency – it’s still early days, and many existing arrangements remain unchanged.

So it’s essential to scrutinise service charges and any ground rent clauses before proceeding. We’ve also put together a short legal update, which we’ll include in the show notes.

Finally, ask about any planned major works under Section 20. If large-scale maintenance – a new roof, lift replacement, or other building related projects – is on the horizon, leaseholders can face substantial bills regardless of how long they’ve owned the flat.

Finally, Mistake No. 10 – Not Budgeting for What Happens After You Move In

This might be the most overlooked mistake on the list – and it catches more first-time buyers off guard than almost anything else.

When you’re renting, something breaks and you call the landlord. When you own your home, you are the landlord. The boiler, the roof, the electrics, the drains – they all become your responsibility. And they have a habit of needing attention at the most inconvenient times.

Estimates vary, but based on our experience, we would recommend budgeting for maintenance costs of around 1 to 2% of the property’s value per year. On a £250,000 home, that’s at least £2,500 annually. In practice, costs will vary – newer homes may need very little, while older ones – like Edwardian or Victorian properties – can require significant ongoing investment.

Beyond maintenance, there are costs that many first-time buyers don’t factor in at all. Council tax. Utility bills are typically higher than in a rental. Buildings and contents insurance. Ongoing mortgage payments that – particularly in the early years – are weighted heavily toward interest rather than capital repayment.

Our advice is simple: before you exchange, make sure you’re holding a cash buffer equivalent to at least three to six months of outgoings. Not just for the mortgage, but for everything. Because the first few months of ownership tend to be the most expensive.

So bring this video to a close, buying your first home is genuinely exciting – and in 2026, with more choice and more negotiating power than buyers have had in years, there are real opportunities out there.

But the gap between a great first purchase and an expensive mistake often comes down to preparation. Taking the time to understand your mortgage options, choosing the right solicitor, knowing what you’re actually buying, and having enough in reserve for what comes next – these things make a real difference.

Wishing you the very best with your plans! A big thanks for watching. If you found this useful, please like the video and subscribe to the channel for more practical, evidence-based property insights.

See you in the next one…