Owning your own home

i hate you all and none of you will be invited to my next sex-a-cuzzi party.

also, the satanist decamped to devon with his child bride 8 months ago, we now have a jazz cigarette addicted italian chocolatier squatting downstairs.

Dibs running the avant garde contemporary jazz improvised expressionist workshop every Wednesday.

Better idea: open an Antic pub downstairs that offers artisan scotch eggs on square pieces of slate as their only food option. All drinks based on prosecco and Dubonnet.

You monster

Can anyone point me to any good quality information about "buying your first house" for beginners...

How much deposit, what type of mortgage, how much mortgage repayment, solicitors, mortgage advisors, surveys etc. I literally have no idea where to start but would like to begin finding out.

Yeah. I'd be happy to sit down with you over a coffee and give you the skinny if that would help. Anything special about your circumstances and what you are looking for? Contractor, looking for a special kind of house, etc?

A fair variety of stuff on here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/house-buying-guide Mainly people just seem to make it up as they go along through information from chinese whispers.

I am in the process of buying my first house so...
Deposit - this comes down to how much do you have? the more deposit the better the mortgage deal (generally), but deals are to be had with lower percentages. Borrowing is pretty cheap at the moment.
Solicitors - all the quotes I had were somewhere in the region of £1500 + stamp duty (varies depending on cost of house, google it). This is not in London though. Ours asked for a £400 retainer to get work started, next payment due on completion, then final payment on exchange, so you have some time to earn the cash you're spending. Which is nice.
Mortgages - worth speaking to a free broker like London & Country who will be able to take you through the options and give you a decision in principle to give you an idea of what you should be able to afford. But beware the DiP, my experience is you can't actually borrow quite as much as they'd lead you to beleive. Having a DiP shows vendors and estate agents you are serious about buying and have a vague idea of what you can afford.
Surveys - the mortgage company will insist on a valuation, which of course you have to pay for. However they often offer the option of paying more for a homebuyers report (surveyor not legally liable if defects found that weren't raised), or even more a full "proper" survey where the surveyor is liable if they don't pick up on something that they should have.

Everything will cost you more than you think it should.

Mainly people just seem to make it up as they go along

Yeah, this too.

How much deposit, what type of mortgage, how much mortgage repayment, solicitors, mortgage advisors, surveys etc. I literally have no idea where to start but would like to begin finding out.

Arrange a meeting with a mortgage consultant at your bank/BS. They might even be able to produce a Decision in Principle for you if you have all the answers to their questions.

Need to sort out Building Insurance.
Bit of a strange setup so can't really go through the standard price comparison sites. I'm the freeholder of the building and downstairs flat. Neighbour in the flat upstairs owns the leasehold on it. Went through Swinton Insurance, but they're quoting £191, excluding a £75 service fee....... Any other good brokers/companies/sites for this sort of setup?

Anyone else set up like this? @Greenbank ?

I use this guy. Don't think they're particularly cheap but we have a similarly complex set-up and it's less hassle than hunting for quotes.
http://maundertaylor.co.uk/insurance/

Thanks for that - will contact them later.

Gonna go look at a place this weekend, can't wait to see how much we're outbid by!

Still seeing aggressive bidding? Thought the market was pretty dead at the moment, assuming you are in London.

Only just started looking so will see, but our needs put us in a competitive space; family home in walthamstow for less than 475 monkeys and a bag of hooves

475? That's good. Thought it was more like 650 round there. Good luck with it

Yeah exactly!

Id be looking at e11 rather than e17 if I were you crispin..

Much prefer Walthers but am open to options if desperate

I think you might be Ok. Of course, you may not get 'village' but everyone knows the smart people choose the lea bridge end which is going to become much nicer over the next few years

Other end for me, north of Lloyd park

By God, Sir! The North Circular lays in those lands

Even considering venturing over the big road!