Properties are advertised in many places, from windows of estate agencies, to local papers, to websites such as rightmove Our advice is to spread your search as wide as you can, using as many sources of information as you can find. After all you are going to be paying alot of money out for this and you want to get it right. You can arrange viewings through your Estate Agent at a convenient time for yourself and the seller.

Check the value of the house you have decided on. You can do this by checking what houses in the area have recently sold for, you can use the internet for this also, there are many sites out there that will tell you prices sold over the last 10 years or more. Agree with seller what fixtures & fittings will be included in the sale. Check if the property is Freehold/Leasehold.

Congratulations! Your offer has been accepted. Now, you need to work through the legal steps to secure ownership of your new home.

 

In England and Wales, once your offer has been accepted the property may be advertised as Sold Subject to Contract or Under Offer. This means simply that, barring any higher offers or unforeseen problems with the property, you have agreed to buy the house.

 

 

Once your offer is accepted on a property that you wish to buy, you will need to submit a full mortgage application for that specific property. And recieve this in writing. It is always best to agree a Mortgage in priciple before you find your property so that you have an idea of how much you are able to borrow.

Finding a solicitor can take time so it is worth researching this aspect of the process when you start looking at property. Many elements of the house buying process happen simultaneously and while some of the next steps are taking place, your solicitor should be starting the parallel process of commencing searches and other groundwork.

 

 

A valuation is required by the lender to verify that the property is adequate security for the mortgage. There are three principal types of valuation:

A Standard Valuation:

just that, a basic assessment of the property. This will not be a detailed examination and is principally to satisfy the lender that the property is suitable security for a mortgage.

A Home Buyers Report (HIP):

a comprehensive report on the property. A relatively expensive option but providing the most in depth report on the property of the three options. This is to be recommended where the property is of considerable age or unusual design or construction.

 

Once you are happy with all the results from the surveys/valuations & have all your finances in order you can now agree with the vendor a date when contracts will be exchanged.

 

Make sure that you have all your funds in place to pay the deposit/solicitor and any unforseen costs.

 

You need to have these in place as part of your Mortgage agreement. It is probably good to shop around, some mortgage companies request you take out the one that they recomment but you will be able to find cheaper ones if you shop around. Try looking at Compare The Market.

 

When all the conveyancing has been dealt with, your solicitor (or Conveyancer) will send you various documents to sign. This is what you've been waiting for. You're finally doing the deal - which is called Exchanging Contracts, and agreeing a Completion Date, which is when the property becomes yours. You'll most probably have to pay a deposit (usually 10% of the house's value) through your solicitor. If you pull out after this point you will lose the deposit.

 

You should liaise with the seller regarding the collection of keys. It is common practice for the seller to leave the keys with their estate agent. The agent will be authorised to release them to you once the sellers solicitors have received the balance.