HOME + GARDEN
Keen to invest in their future , there was a key rationale for their move . “ The rent for our previous property was a lot . The amount we are paying now for the mortgage is slightly less than the rent we were paying for a three-bedroom house that was smaller and not even ours . In the longer term , we also knew we wanted a bigger house for visitors . Being from a larger family , we often have friends and family staying over so it ’ s nice to have the spare room . As we ’ re so close to our previous home , we can still use the same shops and crucially , Luyanda can go to the same school .”
One of the reasons the Mawaro family opted for a new build rather than an older property was the added level of support they would receive , which was important to them as first-time buyers . Although they had some savings , they weren ' t sure if it would be enough to purchase a home of their own but decided to visit the Sevington Lakes Sales Suite to find out more about the process .
“ We weren ’ t clear if we would need to save for another year , but it came to our surprise when we qualified following the affordability assessment , and from there , the ball started rolling much quicker than we thought it would ,” says Nqobile . “ The sales team were incredibly helpful . As first time buyers , we didn ’ t know much about buying a home , so we went to Sevington Lakes to visit the show home and gather information on what we needed to start the process . We both fell in love with the home as the rooms felt very spacious and the quality of materials were impressive . We were connected with a financial advisor who went through our income then and there . By the time we left that day , we ’ d already reserved our new home !”
Having thought that owning their dream home would be unaffordable , and being pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise , Nqobile and Steve share their top tips for anyone else thinking about buying a house :
1 . Get your finances in order . Making a household budget was one of the first things we did when we were preparing to buy . Not only did it help us understand what we could afford , but it also allowed us to work out what debts we could clear before we took on a mortgage .
2 . Build your credit rating by paying bills on time . Even just one missed bill could impact your credit score , so we have spent the past 12 months
ensuring we paid our bills on time . We did this with diary reminders and setting up direct debits .
3 . Ask questions to help overcome any purchase process fears . Buying a new home can bring a lot of questions – for us as long-term renters , we didn ’ t know what the process might be . Speaking to the sales executives at Crest Nicholson helped us understand more about the process and they were also able to talk to us about what help we might qualify for through different schemes .
Crest Nicholson ’ s Sevington Lakes development offers three- , four- , and five-bedroom homes starting from £ 375,000 , £ 430,000 and £ 620,000 respectively , with SmoothMove , Part Exchange and Deposit Unlock available on select properties to help buyers secure their dream home .
For more information , visit the Sales Suite , open Thursday to Monday , from 10am until 5pm . Alternatively , call 01233 428 055 or visit www . crestnicholson . com / sevington-lakes .
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