Mortgage IQ is a trading name of IQ Financial LLP. IQ Financial LLP is an appointed representative of Openwork Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Openwork Limited offer investment and insurance advice on products from a limited number of product providers and advice on mortgages representative of the whole market.

Before you start looking for a specific property, it makes sense to choose a defined area and check it out. Try to visit a couple of times, look at all of the transport links, investigate local schools if appropriate, and look up other amenities that are important to you.

Get a valuation for selling your home.

It is important to find out what property price fits your budget. You need to make appointments with at least three estate agents to come and look at the property you want to sell and give you a realistic valuation. They will also give you a costing for the charge for their service. Remember cheapest isn’t always best and you need to go with who you feel will get you the best price for your home.

Speak to Mortgage Adviser.

Once you have established how approximately how much you are likely to make when you sell your existing property it is important to establish what price of a property you can afford to buy. Your mortgage adviser will need to know what is outstanding on your existing mortgage, details of your current mortgage deal, and how much of the profit from your sale you wish to use as deposit. Sometimes this can only be established by talking through the various options with your mortgage adviser.
Mortgage IQ will obtain Mortgage Promise with your chosen lender, this is then agreed and in place to help strengthen your position when bidding on new properties.
Click on our online mortgage enquiry button to get a quick decision now, or browse mortgage deals available in our source mortgage deals section, to look at UK mortgages available for an idea of monthly payments.

Register with estate agents

Then sign up with a number of local estate agents and give them as tight a brief as possible. Tell them what your maximum budget is (they will almost always try to get you to view properties which exceed your budget, but remain firm). Tell them exactly which area you want to live in, what the property MUST have (eg minimum number of bedrooms) and what you would like it to have (eg south-facing garden).
You can also register on some of the property websites to be kept informed about properties coming on in your chosen area. This means you will be advised of every property coming on as soon as the board goes up.

Viewing property

The golden rule is: take your time. Do not be rushed or pressured, or put off if the current owner is hovering. Try to visit the property a number of times, at different times of the day.

Keep your eyes open for any obvious defects, such as damp, and don't be afraid to ask the owner for utility bills to get an idea of how much the property costs to run.