10 First Time Buyer Mistakes to Avoid

Buying your first home is exciting, nerve-wracking, and full of decisions you’ve probably never had to make before. Most first-time buyer mistakes are avoidable, but only if you know what to look out for. Here’s a straightforward guide to the 10 most common traps and how to steer clear of them.

Financial mistakes

Mistake 1: Underestimating the total cost

The deposit is just the beginning. First-time buyers should budget for an additional £5,000 to £12,000 on top of their deposit to cover all the associated costs of buying. Here’s what to plan for:

Cost	Typical range
Stamp duty	Varies by property value. First-time buyers may qualify for relief on properties up to £425,000.
Solicitor or conveyancing fees	£1,000 to £2,500
Property survey	£400 to £1,500 depending on type
Land registry fee	£20 to £500 depending on property value
Removal costs	£300 to £1,500+ depending on distance and volume
Buildings insurance	Required from exchange of contracts
Ongoing maintenance	Budget around 1% of property value annually

It’s better to over-budget than to arrive at completion with less cash than you need. Assess the signs you’re ready to buy a home and whether your finances are genuinely in the right place.

Mistake 2: Skipping a mortgage in principle

A mortgage in principle shows sellers and agents you’re a serious, prepared buyer. It also gives you a realistic ceiling on what you can borrow, which saves you from falling in love with properties outside your budget. Without one, you risk losing out to buyers who have already done this groundwork. You can get a mortgage in principle from most lenders in a matter of hours, and it typically involves only a soft credit check.

Mortgage mistakes

Mistake 3: Not using a mortgage broker

Going directly to a single lender means you only see their products. A mortgage broker has access to deals from across the market, including some exclusive to brokers, and can match you with the right product for your financial situation. For a first-time buyer navigating this for the first time, that guidance is genuinely valuable.

According to the FCA’s Mortgage Market Study

Around 70% of mortgages in the UK are arranged through a broker.

Mistake 4: Misunderstanding your mortgage options

Fixed-rate mortgages offer predictable monthly payments for a set term. Variable or tracker mortgages can be cheaper when interest rates are low but can rise. Before you sign anything, understand how your payments would change if rates moved, and make sure your budget can handle it. MoneyHelper recommends stress-testing your mortgage payments at an interest rate 3% higher than your current rate to check affordability.

Property mistakes

Mistake 5: Skipping a full survey

This is one of the most common and costly mistakes first-time buyers make. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), around one in three homebuyers who don’t commission a survey later discover problems they wish they’d known about before buying. Skimping on a survey to save a few hundred pounds can result in discovering problems worth tens of thousands to fix after you’ve already bought the property.

A homebuyer’s report or full structural survey can flag issues like subsidence, damp, or structural movement before it’s too late. Subsidence in particular is often excluded from standard cover, so knowing about it before you buy is essential.

Mistake 6: Ignoring leasehold details

If you’re buying a leasehold property, the headline price is only part of the picture. Check:

• Lease length. Anything below 80 years becomes increasingly difficult to mortgage and resell.
• Service charges. These can be substantial and can increase over time.
• Ground rent. Escalating ground rent clauses have caused significant problems for some buyers in recent years.
• Freeholder restrictions. You may need consent for alterations or even subletting.

According to the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), there are around 4.98 million leasehold properties in England, and disputes over service charges and ground rent are among the most common legal issues affecting leaseholders.

For example:

A buyer purchases a flat with a 75-year lease without fully understanding the implications. A few years later, when they try to remortgage, lenders won’t touch it without an expensive lease extension. It’s a problem that a 20-minute conversation with a solicitor before buying could have flagged.

Mistake 7: Not researching the area properly

The right house in the wrong area is still the wrong decision. Before committing, check:

• Transport links and commute times
• School catchment areas if relevant
• Flood risk zones
• Nearby planning applications via your local council’s planning portal
• Local amenities and how they might change

All of these affect both your quality of life and the long-term value of the property. Flood insurance is worth checking out if the property is in or near a flood risk area.

Legal and process mistakes

Mistake 8: Delaying solicitor instruction

Your offer being accepted doesn’t make the property yours. Nothing is legally binding until contracts are exchanged, and according to Rightmove, around one in three property sales falls through before completion, often due to delays in the legal process. Instruct a solicitor or conveyancer as soon as your offer is accepted to keep things moving.

Mistake 9: Forgetting buildings insurance

This is one of the most overlooked steps in the entire process. Building insurance must be in place from the day you exchange contracts, not when you move in. If something happens to the property between exchange and completion, you need to be covered. And once you’re in, contents insurance covers everything you own inside the property.

Emotional mistakes

Mistake 10: Letting emotions overrule the evidence

There are two ways this plays out, and both can be costly.

Overpaying out of FOMO. The fear of losing a property can push buyers to offer more than it’s worth. Houses are long-term financial commitments. Stick to what the property is genuinely worth and what your budget can comfortably sustain. If you lose one property, another will come along.

Ignoring what a survey tells you. If a survey reveals significant structural problems, think carefully before proceeding. The fees you’ve already spent aren’t a reason to press ahead with a purchase that could cost far more to put right.

For example:

A first-time buyer gets a survey back flagging significant damp and roof issues. The estimated repair cost is £15,000. They proceed anyway because they don’t want to start the search again. Eighteen months later, the repairs have cost more than expected and they’re overstretched. The survey was doing exactly what it was supposed to do.

Before we go

First-time buyer mistakes are common, but most are avoidable with preparation and a willingness to take professional advice seriously. Budget properly, get a mortgage in principle, never skip a survey, and make sure your insurance is sorted before exchange.

Lemonade’s home insurance is designed to be clear and straightforward, so you know exactly what you’re covered for from day one.

First time buyer FAQs