My journey as a first-time buyer

Being a First Time Buyer was daunting to start with, but once I got in touch with an Openwork Adviser, they settled all my nerves and made the process of buying a place to call home incredibly easy.

The big decision
Before I could look at houses and house prices, I needed to know what I could afford and how big or small my mortgage and the monthly payments would be. Due to my low income and the fact I am single, it was a struggle to find a suitable property within my budget, so I was recommended to look at the Help to Buy Shared Ownership scheme.

Shared Ownership allowed me to look at good quality pre-owned properties at a good price; I would own 40 per cent and a housing organisation would own the remaining 60 per cent. There were quite a few properties I liked and once I’d viewed them and found the one best suited for me, I sat back down with my adviser and we discussed putting through the mortgage application.

After some waiting, we had the good news that the application was approved. We started to liaise with the solicitors about purchasing the property. This part of the process was long and full of paperwork – a lot of which I didn’t understand but with the help of my adviser, I was able to complete it and get the purchase submitted.

The final step in the process was to receive the best news yet – confirmation of purchase. I was now the owner of a place I could call my own, all that was left to do was to collect the keys and move in.

Protecting my new home
When it came to protection, even though I have no dependants I wanted to make sure my income would be protected if for some reason I couldn’t work. The last thing I would want to risk was the roof over my head that I had worked so hard to find! Discussing the different protection options available with my adviser was very helpful to understand which option would suit my needs and my budget. The policy I went for had the relevant benefits I need as well as being affordable each month.

Overall, I believe by using a financial adviser, I was able to relax knowing that someone was taking care of everything for me, if there were any issues they’d let me know straightaway. I think if I had gone through this alone I would have really struggled.