What to expect

Months of documents, several near-collapses, and a completion date that moves. Fees arrive in layers: survey, legal, tax, insurance. Signing commits you to a payment for decades, and the feeling on the day is relief mixed with mild nausea rather than pure joy.

How to prepare

• Get a mortgage-in-principle and check your credit file before you offer on anything.
• Budget beyond the deposit: legal fees, survey, transfer tax, insurance, moving, and immediate repairs.
• Stress-test the payment against a higher interest rate before choosing the amount.
• Pay for the fuller survey on an older property — it's cheap next to the roof.

What people say

What helps

• A broker who compares the whole market rather than one lender's products.
• Keeping an emergency fund after completion instead of spending it all on the deposit.
• Reading the survey properly and renegotiating on what it finds.
• Comparing total cost over the fixed term, not just the headline rate.

Do and don't

• Do keep your finances boring during the application — no new credit, no job changes if avoidable.
• Don't borrow the maximum offered simply because it's offered.
• Don't skip buildings insurance from the day of exchange.

What it costs

Afterwards

Diary the end of your fixed rate and shop the remortgage early — that date is worth more than most budgeting. Budget roughly 1% of the property value a year for maintenance.

Why it matters

Housing costs become fixed rather than negotiable, and your financial decisions get a long shadow.