so like, we know our budget. We know what area roughly we want to live in. What will we need to sort out (already got a mortgage adviser, but do we need a solicitor already? register with estate agents? etc.) How much cash are we likely to need to deal with shit before/during moving? It’s all very odd and scary and I’m out of my depth
Comedy answers also welcome
not thrilled with how you’ve written the thread title tbh
it actually autocorrected to that 
and now I can’t edit it. MODS!
It’s fucking boring mate, searching for Share to Buy properties at the minute and it’s boring and shit and I hate it.
Aren’t you like 23 or something? Buying an house before you’re 30 is the most Tory thing imaginable.
I’m in this boat with you aggers. Seeing 3 more properties this Saturday, one we absolutely love. My wife finalised our ‘Decision in Principle’ mortgage this morning and we’ve got a pretty sweet 10 year fixed figure.
Stamp duty will be around 9k on the property we want. Fuck off, mate.
EDIT: this is the most fucking boring post in DiS history
Fuck literally don’t even know what stamp duty is
Houses don’t cost much money here so might as well, and a mortgage will be cheaper than our rent
and sorry i can’t help with this at all. the moment our mortgage came through I deliberately forgot everything I learned about mortgages. horrific stuff I’m afraid.
actually I’m just remembering that we got a fixed rate something that we need to re-do or someth… ah fuck it.
You don’t need a solicitor yet but you’ll need one when you have an offer accepted so worth finding one.
Sheffield specific - we used Taylor and emmet solicitors for our first purchase who were good but a big organisation so weren’t cheap and a little slow but fine. We used a smaller firm based in Buxton for our recent sale and purchase who id recommend. Called cooper sons Hartley and Williams. Michelle Wadsworth is who you need there.
I’d recommend you get all your paperwork together and in order. Scan old pay slips and stuff. Make sure your finances are just generally organised and you have an idea about how much it will cost all in.
If I can just correct you on your thread title please
Also estate agents have gone right to the top of my ‘Top Arseholes’ list. What a bunch of smarmy dickhead cunts.
in terms of estate agents, from a buyers end what sort of money do they take, and when do they take it?
All cunts, all Audi drivers, all called Toby or Dan
All quiffed.
Err you don’t pay the estate agent anything they get their cut from the sale/the seller. The estate agent will ‘financially qualify’ your offer as a first step so have your paper work sorted. Or they’ll do this from a mortgage in principle.
Don’t bother registering with estate agents, they never call when something comes up. Just call them for viewings when you see something on rightmove/zoopla etc.
Budget:
Allow for:
If you’re looking at new builds or in London then you’ll probably need an Agreement in Principle for a mortgage and proof of your deposit to be taken seriously by anyone.
I thought this, but then you said someone ‘wasn’t cheap’ and I panicked, re-read it and got what you meant now 
Get a mortgage in principle. We went through London and Country (recommended by Money Saving Expert) and ended up going through them to get our actual mortgage with the Bank of Ireland. Couldn’t find a better deal on the market and they are super helpful and you do everything over the phone / email and they don’t make you feel like totally thick twats. They will help you work out a budget and what you can afford.
Meanwhile: book property viewings. Work out if things go for more / less than the asking price. Register with agents. Look at Zoopla for actual prices and what things have been sold for recently.
You will also need to work out the extra cash you need. Stamp duty. Legal fees. Survey. All the other shit like moving, budgeting for decorating and stuff. This turns out to be a fucking load of money, nearly 15k for us on top of the deposit.
When you’ve found somewhere you like you’ll need to put an offer in. At this point some agents may ask for a holding deposit, I can’t remember if ours did. They will also need to see your mortgage in principle and maybe other documents and they might do checks on you. This is the point, when your offer has been accepted, that you need to go ahead with properly applying for the mortgage and getting a solicitor.
For us, the survey was arranged via our lender, who we paid extra to for getting the Homebuyers Report, so we didn’t need to bother finding our own surveyor. Be prepared to investigate further any problems which might come back from that.