General Information on Buying a House

If you make an effort to be a good buyer you improve your chances of it being a stress-free experience and we have put together some handy hints which you may find useful.

  1. Purchase Agreed – What should I do next?
    Once you have agreed to purchase a property contact us either online or on the phone for a competitively priced fixed fee quote. Please also let the Estate Agent have our details as they will need this information to generate the Memorandum of Sale to us and to the sellers solicitors.
  2. Client Care Information Pack
    Upon receipt of confirmation of instructions from you we will send you our comprehensive client care pack. This pack contains forms which you will need to complete and return to us with your personal details and your identification documents. It is very important that you return this paperwork to us quickly as we cannot start work on your behalf without the information. Under money laundering legislation we cannot do any work at all for you without having checked your identity. (link to our purchase client care pack)
  3. Contract Documentation
    We should receive the contract documentation from the seller’s conveyancers within a few days. Upon receipt of the documentation we will check the details of the property carefully and raise any enquiries and any additional searches.
  4. Sort your Mortgage
    It is a good idea to make sure that your financial arrangements are sorted out before you start to look for a property as many delays are caused waiting for mortgage offers to be issued.
  5. Exchange of Contracts
    When we have received satisfactory replies to enquiries, search results and your mortgage offer we shall prepare a comprehensive conveyancing report on the property and we will invite you to sign the contract paperwork. At this stage it will be necessary for you to let us have the agreed deposit. We are now also in a position to discuss a completion date which is the date that you will move into your new home.

    The completion date must be agreed by all the parties in the chain as upon exchange of contracts it will become legally binding. (link to exchange of contracts explanation)
  6. Completion
    Before completion we will apply for the release of your mortgage advance and you must let us have cleared funds for any additional monies needed from you. We will let you have a completion statement on exchange of contracts.

    On the completion day we will send the purchase monies to the seller’s conveyancers and once they confirm receipt you can collect your keys and move into your new home.
  7. What else should you consider?
    It is a good idea when you have purchased your property to make an appointment to draw up your Will.