Buying a house is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, and it's rarely as straightforward as finding a house you like and moving in.

We've bought two family homes together, years apart, and each time we learned something new. Here are the things to know and look for when buying a house, and what I wish we'd known before we started, from saving the deposit and getting a mortgage to viewings, offers, surveys, how long it takes and the real cost of moving.

1. Getting on the ladder doesn't have to mean your dream home

Our first step onto the property ladder wasn't glamorous. Before we got together, my husband bought a flat at auction.

It was a repossession in one of the less desirable areas of the city, and he never thought his low offer would be accepted, but it was.

We lived there together for three years, paying the mortgage and building up equity. By the time we had our first child and needed more space, that equity became a big part of the deposit for our first family home.

If you're struggling to get on the ladder, a cheaper first property in a less popular area can be a stepping stone to where you really want to be.

2. Save as much as you can before you move

Even with equity from the flat, we saved hard for around eight months before moving. We cut back our lifestyle as much as possible so we had a bigger deposit, plus money left over for the first home improvements once we moved in.

It's easy to focus only on the deposit, but you'll almost certainly want to change something when you move in, even if it's just painting. Here are more tips on how to save for a house.

If you don't have a large deposit, some buyers look at equity loans, where a lender helps fund the purchase in exchange for a share of the property, which you can buy back over time.

Lenders such as AMF Equity loans offer this. It can make buying possible sooner, but it may cost you more in the long run, so always compare it with a standard mortgage. Personally, I'd always prefer to save a deposit and use equity, but it's an option some people explore.

3. Leasehold vs freehold: it affects selling later

With a freehold property, you own the building and the land it stands on outright. With a leasehold property, usually a flat or maisonette, you own it for a set number of years and often pay ground rent and service charges to the freeholder.

The flat was a nice, fairly new upper-floor maisonette, but it was leasehold and had no garden. That made it less appealing to many buyers, and it took a long time to sell.

It took around eight months just to find a buyer, and then we could finally start looking for our next home. The whole process, from listing the flat to moving into our first family home, took about a year.

If you're buying a leasehold property, think about who will want to buy it from you in the future, not just whether it suits you now.

4. A less popular area can get you much more for your money

We chose our first family home in a less desirable area on the outskirts of where we really wanted to live. It meant we could afford a long garden, a driveway and a second reception room.

In the area we actually wanted, we'd have had a much smaller house with no driveway and far less space.

Even better, the area became more and more desirable while we lived there.

We spent seven years doing the house up, and when we sold it during the house price boom of 2020 and 2021, it sold for 78% more than we paid.

That equity let us upsize when we relocated, even though we doubled our mortgage to do it.

5. Your budget will always involve compromises

Even with good equity and a maxed-out mortgage, our budget was still capped the second time round, so it decided a lot about what we could buy.

We were relocating to the coast, and at first we thought about living further inland, where you get much more land for your money. But we realised we'd be driving 45 minutes to an hour to reach the coast.

Especially while doing a house up, we'd probably only go at weekends, and we'd miss out on the lifestyle we were moving for.

So we chose to live closer to the coast instead, where we can walk to beaches, the river and the town.

That meant sacrificing things on our wish list, like a driveway big enough for both cars, a utility room, a large garden, and living away from residential areas with more privacy. For us, the lifestyle was worth it.

Write a list of your must-haves and nice-to-haves before you start looking, and be honest about which ones you'd give up.

6. Think about the work the house needs

Our second home was only 17 years old, so it wasn't in bad condition, but after 17 years of family life everything inside was worn and not to our taste.

We kept some money back from our equity so we could do the house up to our standards.

Budget for work from the start, rather than spending every penny on the purchase.

If you're planning to add a home improvement loan to your mortgage, most lenders won't let you borrow more until you've made at least six months of mortgage payments. It's worth factoring in if you want to start work on a property as soon as you move in.

If you're thinking of a bigger project, here are some things to consider when buying a property to renovate.

7. Shop around for your mortgage yourself

For our first family home, we started the process in mid-2013, listing the maisonette and getting a mortgage in principle, but it took so long to sell that we didn't move until June 2014. We didn't use a mortgage broker.

I found the best deal online with our own bank, so we booked an appointment and went in person, first for a mortgage in principle and then for the full mortgage.

Since then, we've used a mortgage broker once when we remortgaged. Honestly, he didn't find anything better than I'd found myself, and the whole process took forever, with me chasing him constantly.

For our last move, we found the best deal ourselves again and applied directly with the lender. Brokers can be really helpful for some people, but it's worth doing your own research too.

When your fixed deal ends, here's how to remortgage your home.

Picturesque homes I photographed in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

8. Getting a mortgage when self-employed

Being self-employed made getting a mortgage harder. We needed my SA302 tax calculations and tax year overviews from HMRC for both the mortgage in principle and the full application.

Some lenders look at one year of self-employed income, while others want two or three.

Our second purchase was held up by a discrepancy on my tax documents. I'd overpaid my student loan, so one document's figures included the overpayment, and another showed the correct amount after I was refunded.

The two different figures needed explaining, and the letter I was supposed to receive confirming it never arrived. We had to get it sent so we could pass it on to the mortgage company, which delayed the mortgage approval.

Check your documents carefully before you apply, and sort out anything that doesn't add up before the lender spots it.

9. You can appeal a mortgage decision

When we applied for our second mortgage, the lender offered us less than our mortgage in principle, which would have meant we couldn't buy the house we wanted.

I had no idea you could appeal, but I asked anyway. I told them I was sure we could afford it and wanted to appeal, and they passed it to their underwriters.

After reviewing it, they agreed to lend us the original amount. Phew!

If a lender offers you less than you expected, it's always worth asking if they'll review it.

10. What to look for when viewing a house

Viewings always surprised us. Sometimes a house looked perfect online, but when we got there, it just didn't feel right.

It might not look as good in person, or it might be next to an alleyway or in a street that gave us a different feeling.

Other times, a house that didn't look great online turned out to be much better in person. So always go and see a house for yourself, and walk around the area at different times of day if you can.

When you view, look beyond the decor and check:

• Signs of damp, such as mould, peeling paint or a musty smell
• The age and condition of the roof, windows and boiler
• Water pressure, by running the taps and shower. Here's why you should check the water pressure when buying a new home
• Outside space, parking and what's next to the house
• How much light the rooms get
• What the neighbours and street are like
• Any work the house needs, and roughly what it would cost

You usually deal with the estate agent rather than the sellers, so ask them what work has been done and when. The sellers also have to fill in a property information form for your conveyancer, so check it carefully for anything that doesn't match what you saw or were told.

11. Be prepared for offers to be rejected

We had lots of offers rejected on houses, although we were never gazumped. It's an emotional rollercoaster when you think you've found your dream home and then lose it.

For one house we loved when we were relocating, there was so much interest that everyone had to put in a final offer by letter, along with our reasons for wanting the house. We basically had to sell ourselves, and we weren't picked.

Ironically, their first-choice buyers later fell through and they offered it to us, but by then we were already buying the house we live in now.

When we found that house, we knew the sellers had already rejected one offer, so we went in with a higher, decent offer that wasn't going to be turned down, and it was accepted straight away.

12. How long does it take to buy a house?

In the UK, buying a house often takes three to four months from having an offer accepted to moving in, but it can take much longer if you're in a chain or have a slow buyer or seller.

For us, it took about a year the first time, including eight months just to find a buyer for the flat, and four months the second time.

A lot of that time comes down to your conveyancers and estate agents. When we sold our first family home, our buyers' conveyancer slowed everything down. Right at the end, four months in, they kept asking questions we'd already answered at the very beginning.

Even our own conveyancer got fed up and started asking what the hold-up was.

Our estate agent didn't help either. We wanted to move quickly so our children could start their new school in September, and we were ready to move within two or three months.

But it turned out the agent had never told our buyers we wanted a quick sale.

The whole thing took from May to September. That was still much quicker than our first move, but it could have been far quicker.

Make sure your estate agent knows your timescale and passes it on, and use a conveyancer who stays on top of things. Here's whether a conveyancing solicitor is worth the cost.

13. Surveys will always flag something

Our own surveys went well, with nothing major flagged. Surveys will always pick up small, picky things, so don't panic when you read yours.

When we were selling, though, our buyers were first-time buyers who didn't seem to have been advised properly about their survey. Right at the last minute, they tried to get money off for things that were ridiculous, like the windows being the "wrong height".

That was just how every house in the street had been built at the time. They couldn't realistically change it, and it wasn't a real problem.

Ask your surveyor or conveyancer which issues actually matter, and which are just normal for the age of the house.

14. The real cost of moving house

Relocating cost us around £20,000 in total, including solicitors' fees, stamp duty and our own moving costs. Here are some of the unexpected and hidden costs of moving house to plan for.

To save money, we hired a van and moved everything ourselves, three and a half hours away. Looking back, it was absolutely crazy, and we probably should have used a removal company.

Here's why you should never handle a removal yourself.

Final thoughts

Buying a house takes longer, costs more and involves more compromises than most people expect. But with a decent deposit, your paperwork in order, realistic expectations and a bit of patience, it's so worth it.

Get your finances sorted first, view everything in person, be clear about what you're willing to compromise on, and keep everyone involved on top of your timescale. And if you need legal help along the way, here's when you need a solicitor.