Step 2: Can I afford the repayments?
The crunch question: and at ESPC we believe it's essential to help you work out a realistic answer to it. That means sitting down with you to draw up a detailed monthly budget of income and expenses and seeing what's actually left over for your mortgage repayments. For us, realistic budgeting is the cornerstone of all long-term financial planning. The last thing we want is for our clients to find, six months down the line, that they've taken on more than they can afford to repay.
Bear in mind that if interest rates rise your monthly payments could rise with them - and that once you've moved in you'll want to spend extra on decoration, furnishing and all those things that make a place feel like home. Then there's insurance: your mortgage lender will insist that you insure the building itself against structural damage, and you may also want to insure the contents. Many policies let you pay these insurance premiums monthly, which eases the burden a bit. Incidentally, you don't have to buy your buildings insurance from your mortgage lender; there's a lot of choice in the market and our advisers at ESPC can help you choose the right policy for you.
Going through your future expenses in this sort of detail makes a lot of sense. Draw up a realistic budget now and you'll be fine, knowing that you can enjoy your new home without worrying too much about monthly costs.
The crunch question: and at ESPC we believe it's essential to help you work out a realistic answer to it. That means sitting down with you to draw up a detailed monthly budget of income and expenses and seeing what's actually left over for your mortgage repayments. For us, realistic budgeting is the cornerstone of all long-term financial planning. The last thing we want is for our clients to find, six months down the line, that they've taken on more than they can afford to repay.
Bear in mind that if interest rates rise your monthly payments could rise with them - and that once you've moved in you'll want to spend extra on decoration, furnishing and all those things that make a place feel like home. Then there's insurance: your mortgage lender will insist that you insure the building itself against structural damage, and you may also want to insure the contents. Many policies let you pay these insurance premiums monthly, which eases the burden a bit. Incidentally, you don't have to buy your buildings insurance from your mortgage lender; there's a lot of choice in the market and our advisers at ESPC can help you choose the right policy for you.
Going through your future expenses in this sort of detail makes a lot of sense. Draw up a realistic budget now and you'll be fine, knowing that you can enjoy your new home without worrying too much about monthly costs.
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