A house with a garden: Jess's story
Here is a little tip about how Gen H is wonderful
Jess, a senior underwriter at Gen H, and her partner Dan had spent years saving for their deposit while they paid rent and lived in London. When it came time to buy, Jess and Dan expanded their home search area and found the perfect place just outside of the city – complete with a garden for their dog Oskar.
Read on for Jess’s tips on making the most of your property viewings and what she wishes she’d done differently.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Jess, me and my partner Dan have just bought our first house with an all important garden for our dog Oskar! We were renting in London but have bought a house outside of London near a train station with connections into London.
How did you save for your deposit? Did you have to make any sacrifices?
We saved for our deposit by using LISAs and using our tax free bonus for the last few years. We have been saving away since leaving university and starting our first jobs so it’s been a long process! We have made sacrifices to save for our deposit by reducing our number of holidays and being more conscious about the amount we spend on socialising.
What was the hardest part of the homebuying process?
The hardest part for me was the lack of control we had during the conveyancing period. We used Gen H Legal as our solicitors who were amazing but the sellers' solicitors were incredibly slow to respond. I found this incredibly frustrating as we were relying on third parties that we had no control over.
It's all worth it when you get the email confirming your completion date!
What surprised you the most about buying a home?
The amount of admin tasks involved in the process! From when you offer on the property to the day you move in you have a lot of admin tasks and paperwork to complete. It can be hard at times to keep on top of the to-do list of things you need to get done during the conveyancing period but it's all worth it when you get the email confirming your completion date!
What advice do you have for people currently looking to buy?
Take lots of photos of the properties you view. It's useful to compare photos after seeing the property as agent listings do not always show all the rooms and they have clever ways to make rooms seem larger. I found it useful to compare photos of the properties we viewed to help make the decision on which one to buy.
What will you do differently the next time around?
I would look at more properties! We ended up buying the second house we looked at, and I love it, but I wish I had looked at a few more at different price points to see what different houses in our budgets could have got us. If nothing else, it would have been useful to compare!
We’re always looking to share the stories of other Gen H customers. Want to share? You can email marketing@generationhome.com to get started.
The views expressed in this post don’t necessarily represent the views of Gen H. This post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as advice. Jess is an employee of Gen H. She was asked to give an honest reflection on her experience of buying a home and was not compensated.
