This week has been rather interesting for me as we have gone from been happy in our house to deciding to move. I could stop there but we actually took the spontaneous plunge of getting valuations and subsequently put our house on the market. What’s the big deal I hear you cry? And in truth, there isn’t one but it did make me realise the value of good financial advice.

How come?

Well, no sooner had I told Maria (my wife) that I think we should move, she picked up her phone and opened the Rightmove app and asked: “what can we afford?”. At this point I did wonder if the idea of moving was mine, why else did she have the app installed… It was the question that struck a chord, let me explain. If I had answered £800,000, I’m pretty sure that she would have put £850,000 in the search box with the view of getting a deal. In reality, our budget is far more modest (much to her disappointment).

My point is this, speaking to a mortgage adviser is crucial in order to understand how much your actual budget is opposed to relying on guesswork. Whilst the lender will have the ultimate say on the amount you can borrow, the monthly payments are the part you need to be happy with and that’s how we can help you.

My advice, speak to someone at the outset who can give you all the facts as this will help you establish not only what you can buy for but what you need to secure for your sale.