Our step by step guide can help you organise and plan what is needed when buying a property. You could be a first time buyer or have bought properties before, but we know that the process can be daunting to many, so remember, we are here to help! Our step by step guide can help you organise and plan what is needed when buying a property.
Set a budget
It’s important to know how much you can afford to invest when buying a property to make sure you are viewing the correct types of properties and to verify any offers you make to prove you have the correct funds in place.
If you are planning to buy your new home with a mortgage, you will need a Decision in Principle (DIP). This is a document that states the maximum amount they are prepared to lend you towards a property.
We would advise that you speak to a Mortgage Advisor, we partner with Direct2Mortgages who are fully independent and have access to the whole of the market and aren’t tied to particular lenders. This means they will find the best deal for you based on your circumstances.
Find your new property
Make a list of your requirements, for example, number of bedrooms, home office, garden etc. If you are looking to move to fit in with school catchment areas, be close to amenities, and have good transport links can also be important.
Get in touch with our branch staff, they are experts in their local areas and will help to match your requirements to properties that we have available or are due to come to market.
Book a viewing
Our properties have video tours available online which we encourage all our prospective clients to view prior to arranging a physical viewing. This vastly improves our efficiency as your agent enabling us to show you more properties which are suitable and prevents you viewing properties which are unsuitable. All our professional viewers have a property information form with them which provides in-depth information on our properties such as who lives next door and when the extensions were built, as well as the information on the brochure itself. Especially on a weekend you may be part of a viewing event where we anticipate more than one offer will be made. It’s imperative that you have all the information on the viewing so you are in a position to make a considered offer swiftly without the risk of missing out.
Making an offer
When you have found the property you want, it’s time to make an offer by contacting the local branch to put your offer forward. Our Sales Negotiator’s in branch will discuss your offer with the seller and let you know their decision. Should your offer be rejected, you have the opportunity to increase. Please be aware that if other offers are being put forward at the same time, a seller may ask for everyone to present best and final offers.
Appoint a Solicitor
Once you have agreed your purchase price you will need to appoint a solicitor.
The legal process of purchase can be complex and our sales negotiators can recommend a conveyancer who we have a relationship with who will act in your best interests and hold to a standard.
Your chosen solicitor will liaise with the sellers solicitor which will be overseen by our highly skilled sales progressors through to exchange of contract and completion. Our team is there to make sure that all the tasks the solicitors undertake such as requesting searches, raising contract enquiries and checking the fine print of the mortgage offer is done so in a timely manner and that everyone within the process are kept informed and on track.
Book a Survey
Before legally completing on your purchase it’s prudent to check the properties condition to identify any potential issues which may affect the material value or the future saleability. If you are not a cash buyer your bank or building society will insist on one as part of your mortgage application. There are three types of survey namely a mortgage valuation; homebuyers survey and a full structural survey the latter two which are insurance protected. For certain properties a private survey as well as the mortgage valuation may be sensible.
Organise Buildings & Content Insurance
Before completing on your new home, you will need to organise Buildings Insurance to cover the property in the event of damage. Contents Insurance also comes highly recommended so you can protect your possessions.
Exchange and Completion
Once the conveyancing has been completed both solicitors will be ready to exchange contract and complete. Once exchange of contracts has taken place the seller is in a legal and binding contract to sell and the buyer is in a legal contract to buy.
On exchange of contracts the date of completion is set which will be when the property legally comes into your ownership. You can exchange and complete on the sale day. If you are not a cash buyer your solicitor will receive your cash deposit and will have already requested the remaining amount from your lender via your mortgage offer statement. Once you have completed you will receive the keys from our office along with a new home pack which will contain some useful necessities.
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