From Renter to First Home: The Nine Flats Playbook

In 1994 Uncle Sterling bought his first flat on a cab driver's wage. Nobody told him about the money after the deposit. This playbook does: your whole number, a 24-month plan to reach it, and every question to ask before you sign.

Part 1 · The Number

What a lender will lend against what you can live with. The full list of costs after the deposit: legal fees, survey, lender fees, purchase tax, moving, a buffer and the bed. Your Number is a lettered worksheet with a worked example. It ends in the three numbers that run your plan.

Part 2 · The 24-Month Plan

Where the money comes from (cut, earn, windfalls, first-home schemes), a 24-month tracker, eight quarterly check-ins and a letter at month 12, the halfway point.

Part 3 · House-Ready

Your credit file, the document folder, what not to do in the six months before you apply, and what to do if you're turned down.

Part 4 · The Professionals

Word-for-word questions for:

• the mortgage adviser or broker;
• the solicitor or conveyancer;
• the surveyor;
• the estate agent.

A Not in the UK? table translates every term for the US, Canada and Australia.

Part 5 · The Viewing

Before you view, the night walk, 12 viewing scorecards (12 checks, red flags and a score out of 60) and a top-three comparison.

Part 6 · Offer to Keys

Your walk-away price, the order of events from offer to keys, and the first-year home fund.

Also inside (60 pages)

• The Deposit Planner spreadsheet for Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets. It works out:
• your number and the amount to save each month;
• a 36-month tracker that shows whether you're ahead or behind, with a progress bar;
• a 12-home viewings comparison.
• Bonuses:
• Passengers Who Bought Too Much House, six cab stories;
• the Three Numbers fridge card;
• a log.
• Two paper sizes, A4 and US Letter. Each comes as a colour PDF, a fillable PDF and a print-friendly version.

The honest bit

Uncle Sterling is an AI-created character, and the people in his stories are composites. This is a planning and education book, not financial, mortgage, legal or tax advice. It recommends no lender or product. Figures are examples. Rules, fees and schemes vary by country and change. Take regulated advice before you borrow or sign anything.

Money likes quiet. Houses like patience.