The start of January 2026 has been a whirlwind in the poundsnpennies household. We’ve bought our first house! And moved in!
I thought about what I would write to convey my excitement, but I still wanted to provide details and information to you, the reader, on what the process was like, what was involved and to give a step by step guide to how you can go about it too.
Fortunately for you (unfortunately for me), there was a fair bit of drama involved. Certain things we had to overcome and even a moment where we didn’t think completing was possible. All fairly normal things from what I’ve read and watched online, although there is a bias towards content having drama that can be used as a hook, but this issue was real, I promise!
What to expect:
- A full walkthrough of the process from viewing to getting the keys
- Navigating the process without a traditional estate agent (very funky)
- Navigating the process without a mortgage broker (very easy actually)
- How I navigated a job loss midway through the mortgage application… horror
- Compromising on a lot because it is a freehold property
- How we saved a £19,000 deposit in the first place
So, the story takes us back to May 2025. Myself and my lovely girlfriend were about 9 months into renting a flat in Southampton… she had a great job opportunity, I work remote, so a good choice at the time. Without going too much into the fine details, we realized fairly quickly that being a tenant wasn’t good for us. Rent was extortionate, the area was not value for money and the whole process felt like a money pit, for not much in return. We moved away from family and friends so that was especially difficult as well.
We knew we wanted to move back home and knew that we wanted ownership. Ownership not just of a property, but to have the ability to do what we wanted with our home, and not having to plead with a management agent for the smallest fix. Funny example (not really), in the middle of January 2025 we had no hot water in our shower for 4 weeks… cold water only… in January… for 4 weeks. If it was my house, I’d call someone and get it fixed the next day, but because it wasn’t ours, it took that long for someone to come and fix the shower. Lunacy.
So we knew we weren’t going to extend the lease, and we had built up a house deposit in our LISA’s before going to rent in Southampton. So we started house hunting.
The process from viewing to getting the keys
Our house hunting experience was fairly average. We viewed a handful of properties and there were some that stood out over others. Our budget catered for nicer 2 bedroom leasehold flats. A fairly modest step onto the ladder I thought.
I then saw a listing that lowkey blew my mind. A 2 bedroom flat, with the freehold of the building included in the sale price. I banged on about how a freehold property was at the top of my list for what I wanted. This was the only freehold property, in our budget, on the market at the time of us looking. It had a ton of internal work done and looked very up to date, with extremely good energy efficiency ratings while being in a nice enough area. We were the first ones to view it, and we put an offer on the table within 24 hours.
A couple catches though. It’s grade 2 listed and the parking is a bit crap.
The grade 2 listed thing spooked me at first. But after some deep reading into the topic and what can and can’t be done, it really wasn’t a big deal in my eyes. We do have a beautiful bay window that needs to be upkeeped though… I’m not looking forward to that bill. Quickly on grade 2 listed buildings. If you have no desire to change anything on the exterior of the property, knocking down a wall inside or making any other major changes, then there’s not much difference from a grade 2 listed building and a “normal” building. Yes, when it comes time to repair things we have to use older “Like for like” materials that’ll be sold at an inflated cost… but that’s a compromise I was happy with for freehold ownership. This also allowed us to buy something we thought was way out of our price range, so overall I’m a happy boy.
We had a few viewings, not with an estate agent but with the previous owners themselves (very funky and something we’ll talk about later) got a conveyancer in place, went directly to the bank for our mortgage and not through a broker (again, something funky which we’ll touch on later) and we had a Level 3 survey done which was mostly squeaky clean.
We packed up everything in Southampton and moved back home. Picked up the keys and bang! Into our new home, nice and easy with no stress… right… right?
The process had so many complicated moving parts because we did things quite differently from most traditional first time buyers. So there was an elevated amount of stress within the months leading up to picking up the keys, for various different reasons. Let’s go a bit deeper.
Navigating the process without a traditional estate agent
Our first viewings on different properties were with a traditional estate agent, we had a man take us around properties we were interested in. We asked questions, he had some answers but most of the time it was vague “I’m just here to show you around” sort of deal.
When we found the property we eventually bought and moved into. It wasn’t advertised through a traditional estate agent, but through one of these “do it yourself” estate agents.
We didn’t know at the time, but when we rocked up to the property, we weren’t greeted by a man in a suit, it was the current owners of the property! They let us in, showed us around and had much deeper answers to the questions we had. To me this was great, we can establish a good relationship with the people who have lived here for the past 10 years, figure out everything about the property and learn details that no estate agent would be able to know.
I suppose for some, this may seem unnatural or weird. But for us, especially for me, there was a new found sense of calm knowing we had direct contact with the previous owners, people who know the property inside out, people who know the flaws and things to keep an eye on. Yes, I’m not naive enough to think that people wouldn’t hide some things, but once the sellers sent us their last property survey they had done, with notes and receipts of work that’s been done over the years, it really took the unknown out of what can be a scary ordeal. So if you can get into contact with the sellers and they are open for communication, then I see no harm in doing so. You may find out a thing or too about the property that didn’t come up on the survey, or find out some information about the most niche thing in the building etc etc.
One thing that was great about this communication was that we were able to update each other with conveyancers being slow, which happened frequently. So we were never left in the dark about the progress of the sale.
There was still an estate agent that we were going through, but we barely contacted them throughout the process and I don’t remember what we sent them or what conversations we had with them because it was such a small piece of a big pie.
This could’ve been such a ballache of a process if the sellers weren’t respectable, honest people. But we were fortunate that they were. My assumption is if they didn’t want anything to do with it, they would’ve gone with a normal estate agent.
Navigating the process without a mortgage broker
Ok so this was actually something I had in mind very early in the process. “If a mortgage broker doesn’t have any special rates, then why would I pay them money when I can go directly to the bank?”.
And that’s exactly what happened.
We had a special mortgage rate advertised to us with our normal bank through one of their memberships (think Barclays Blue, Lloyds Premier etc). So we took that rate and contacted a few mortgage brokers who openly told us that they can’t do better than the rate we already had. Seriously!!
One smaller local broker told us on the phone that we’ve done a very good job to get this rate and that we don’t need any help from any mortgage broker.
“But there’s a ton of work that the broker does for you right? You can’t possibly do that yourself?”
…
You’re very right! That’s why we used an advisor directly from the bank we got our mortgage with. They provided that service (with no fee!) alongside the best rate on the market, at that time. A win for both parties.
The mortgage process was the exact same as it would’ve been with a traditional firm. Lots of documentation to be sent off, proof of funds and proving that we can pay off the mortgage. There was a whole chat about life insurance but that’s probably best left for another post. But life and buildings insurance are necessities!
I think this is one of the easiest things that you can do to save money when buying a home. We didn’t have to pay any fees and we got a top quality advisor to assist us through the process. From all the quotes we got from other brokers, we saved in the region of £500 – £750 doing it this way.
And I’ll do it again!
A job loss midway through the mortgage application
Wow, a very dark turn in the story indeed.
This was most definitely the hardest part of the entire process. I was let go of the job that was half funding this purchase.
I was in shock when it happened at first because there was no indication this would happen. No meetings to discuss performance, consistently got positive feedback and genuinely believed that the job and company were stable. However, the risk of working at a startup is always present… and it was the absolute worst luck to have this happen just after we started the application for the mortgage.
The added financial pressure was present as we still lived in this flat that was absurdly priced, reliant on one person’s income and I was only at the company for 8 months, so there was nothing more than one month’s pay and a positive reference.
Squeaky bum time.
For all the things I’m good and bad at. I know I’m good at getting a job. I’ve always done well in interviews and know how to send a good application. I’m fortunate as well that for my age, I’ve amassed a fairly large amount of job experience in my field. So I knew I would be attractive to somebody.
But the pressure was real. We had to tell our mortgage advisor obviously, and the application was put on hold. I would receive weekly calls and emails for updates and it quickly dawned on me that if I couldn’t find a decent paying job somewhere, and quickly, then the entire process would stop and we would be left at square one. While the property we loved would’ve gone back onto the market.
So there I was, sending 100’s of applications a day, working odd jobs to help pay the bills we had anyway and driving all over the place for interviews. It was a tremendously stressful time that I most certainly do not want to repeat again.
But it would be worth it in the end.
Got hired at a larger company on a fixed term contract. It wasn’t the ultimate stability that I wanted but it was enough to carry on with our mortgage process.
On reflection, going through that taught both my partner and I the true value of stability. Having an emergency fund, having CV’s, cover letters and portfolios updated ready to go if needed. But most importantly to act fast and not panic… too much.
Compromising on a lot because it is a freehold property
So with that horror story behind us. It’s a good time to chat about a fairly controversial topic, “What lengths would Martyn go to for a freehold property in his budget?”.
In truth… a lot.
Ultimately, we’ve been very lucky. Yes, the building is old, it’s a listed building and there’s some quirks. But apart from spending £300 to replace the shower base, we haven’t had the need to spend any money on the property yet. Touch wood that remains the same but there for sure will be things in the future that will need attention. But everything we want to do at the moment is a want, not a need.
My partner and I had lengthy conversations about moving further up north because prices are better for a freehold property. We’ve discussed buying something very cheap to use as our stepping stone, we’ve had every conversation.
For me, true ownership is being able to make the changes you want to make, without having to get permission from anyone else. That was my one rule I kept too when we were house hunting. It was so important to me to retain that level of ownership because I want the responsibility of the property I’ve spent a ton of money on to be mine, not some freeholder who hasn’t seen the building in years.
And yes, I know what some may say. “But it’s a listed building! You need permission to make changes!”
Yeah, you’re right. If I wanted to do a loft extension, I would need permission. If I wanted to knock down a wall internally, I would need permission. If I wanted to build an extension, I would need permission.
But guess what, every single change I would want to make to the property doesn’t need permission. I want to paint walls, lay new carpet and buy some new furniture. I don’t want to touch the structure of the building in the slightest. Every single restriction of a listed building doesn’t matter to me because I won’t be making those changes anyway!
The only thing that is a little bummer is the bay window. It will probably need restoration at some point and that can be expensive. But that is such a small thing that doesn’t impact my happiness in any way.
If you’re someone who likes to fully switch up the layout of your house, you want to build things and make it fully custom to you. Then a listed building wouldn’t be appropriate for you. But myself and my partner have zero interest in doing anything like that.
One of the nicer flats we viewed had fantastic private parking. Sectioned off, nice and wide… absolutely phenomenal. Our current home is so much more cramped and awkward to get in and out of. It is very annoying but it’s a compromise that we were happy to deal with. There were also mixed feelings about it being terraced, and could be noisy from either side. That again is a compromise. There’s many other small quirks that we find funny but this is ultimately our home for an extended period of time now, so we’ll have to get used to it.
How we saved a £19,000 deposit in the first place
This was the deposit we put down. We had this saved before we took a “gap” to rent in Southampton for a year. So we had this pocketed ready to use when needed. But how did we acquire this sum of money?
Well, neither mine nor my partner’s family gave us any money, no inheritance or anything like that either. This money was saved over 4 years in our Lifetime ISA’s. I had around 2/3rds while my partner had the rest.
We both lived with my mother, splitting all bills (rent, council tax, utilities) 3 ways. We weren’t getting a free ride by any means. But living this way for a couple years really helped us accelerate us maxing out our LISA’s for the year.
It was far cheaper than renting privately and I got the added bonus of giving my mum “rent” money instead of a landlord. A choice I would make the same every time.
One thing that accelerated my saving was that I had all contributions invested in a global index alongside a few individual stocks that performed well. With all profits being tax free inside of the Lifetime ISA, I added an extra £3,000 to the value of my portfolio over that time.
And how can I forget. The number one reason why we used Lifetime ISA’s was to capitalise on the 25% bonus, effectively giving us an additional £1,000 every year. This was a big help as you can imagine.
It was a fairly long process that we grinded for over time. I was maxing out my LISA every year so I was religiously putting in £333 every month without fail. I definitely could have used that money to enjoy more and have fun. But I knew what I really wanted in the future and I can say that I’m very proud of younger me for sticking to it.
A bit at the end
That last line sort of encapsulates my feelings on this whole process. I’m replaying all the moments of stress, difficulty and patience in my head while writing and I can honestly say that my early 20’s self set me up for success more than I realised.
There’s something quite cathartic about writing this piece and reliving some of the past moments of thinking “It’ll be worth it in the end”.
Because it’s true. I was so hyperfocused on this one goal. A goal that was missed by a lot of my family. A goal that gives me the structure and stability to go on and continue to achieve what I put my mind to.
For some, buying a home is a formality, something that will just happen. Not a lot of people that come from my sort of upbringing become homeowners. I could have easily gone in such a different direction but I continued to make choices that were right for me, and it paid off.
It’s reaffirmed my belief that I can actually achieve these big milestones just by putting in the effort.
So there we go. A rundown of the first time buyer experience from myself. A few funky things involved that probably go against traditional home buyer experiences. But I hope this piece gives you a bit more understanding and variety of what it’s like buying your first home.
TL;DR – It’s worth it.
