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Money Matters

It’s likely to be your biggest financial commitment, so you’ll need to make sure you have the ability to afford the monthly repayments for many years to come.

We've summarised what's involved and points to consider when applying for a mortgage to buy property.

Post Office Mortgages are provided by Bank of Ireland UK

Woman looking at home listings in an estate agent window

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE

Mortgage calculators

A great place to start is to find out how much you may be able to afford, and what your monthly repayments could be.

Your budget

Making sure you can afford your mortgage is vital. You will need to compare all of your income and outgoings to see exactly what you could afford as your mortgage repayments.

Lenders will look closely at how much you can afford to pay back each month. If you have any loans, credit card repayments or children who are financially dependent on you, these will all be taken into consideration within your application.

Deposit

The difference in monthly mortgage payments may be significant depending on the size or your deposit. You may get better interest rates with a bigger deposit so, as always, it's worth going away and doing your sums to see how much you can afford.

You'll sometimes see lenders using the term 'LTV', this stands for loan-to-value ratio. This is the percentage of the property value that you're borrowing from your lender. The whole property value is your LTV plus your deposit.

Other costs of buying a home

As well as your mortgage and monthly costs such as home insurance and utility bills, there are other costs to factor in when you work out your home-buying budget.

  • Product fee: Many mortgages come with a product fee. You can pay this upfront or it can be added to the loan
  • Valuation fee: This covers a basic inspection of the property on behalf of the lender so they can see whether it’s suitable for them to lend money on
  • Survey fee: Many borrowers get a homebuyer survey or full structural survey (also known as a building survey) on the property they want to buy
  • Solicitor’s fees: When buying a property you’ll need a solicitor to act on your behalf
  • Stamp duty: Stamp duty is a tax on all property purchases above £125,000. Different rates apply depending on the price of the property. If you are a first-time buyer you may not need to pay Stamp Duty. For full details, see HMRC
  • Moving costs: You may need to hire a van or removal company to help you with your move