People looking around for a mortgage have been advised to research the potential value of a property before making an offer and arranging funding, an expert has said.
Paul Holmes, chief executive of Firstrung, indicated potential first-time buyers should not rely on a possible stamp duty holiday or reprieve, as such a scheme would be "impossible to implement".
He went on to say that property may be found more cheaply if future values are taken into account.
"Don`t look at what the property is priced at today or what it was priced at a month ago, think about what it will be worth in a year`s time," he recommended.
Mortgage deals may be affected by taking such action.
First-time buyers may be risking debt problems, according to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which said an average couple earning lower quartile earnings would have to save more than 100 per cent of their combined gross pay to cover all the up-front buying costs for a home.
