Me and my partner want to buy a house as we're renting at the moment. I have no idea where to start though and no idea what to look at or what we can afford. At the moment we have about £12,000 between us for a deposit, we earn about £70,000 a year between us in gross income (£50,000 net income). I've been working two years and he several more to give some account history. Though self-employed we're contracted to a company and so have secure work. As touring theatre Musical Directors we don't have a specific place to look in but Yorkshire or Manchester are desirable for family reasons.

How do i start looking for mortgages and what can I expect to be able to afford when browsing properties?

The first step is for you to contact an indepednent mortgage broker. Have a chat with them about your circumstances, about what sort of properties you would be interested in and what you would consider a confortable monthly repayment.

You have plenty of income to support a substantial mortgage should you wish, however your deposit level may cause you some issues. The minimum deposit level is going to be 10% of the purchase price, which would limit you to a house value of 120k which may not be sufficient for what you are hoping to buy.


However, there are other options open to you, including shared equity and shared ownership schemes, builder deposits and other options to help you with your deposit.

So speak to a mortgage broker who should be able to advise you on all of the above and answer any questions you have.

Hope that helps.

Dan

That pretty much covers most of what you can be told.

You have accounts as you have been self employed for a while now, so you should have no issues other than the deposit.

My partner and I are first time buyers and we are looking at properties between £90,000 and £120,000. We are not sure how much deposit we will have to pay, but we are both saving at the moment and have reached £5,000. I am self employed and my partner is employed, I have been self employed for 1 and a half years and have paid a year's tax. I also receive pay slips could we get a mortgage and how much could we hope to get?