A Buyers Guide

Whether taking the first step on the property ownership ladder, finding the right home for a growing family, seeking the perfect retirement home or investing in property as a business, the process can seem complex and often frustrating. However, buying a property is actually generally relatively uncomplicated and with guidance and support along the way it can be achieved smoothly and less stressfully than might be imagined.

Preparation is key

Thinking in advance about the keys things helps to get your planning underway. Having a clear idea of your budget and how you plan to fund your purchase is the staring point. We can help with this in a number of ways:

• If you have a home or property to sell, we can provide a valuation for you to give you an idea of the equity you may have available towards your new home.
• In addition, you should always ensure that you have funds arranged. If a mortgage is required, then an agreement in principle will give vendors the confidence that you are in a position to proceed. We work with Premier Plus a local mortgage broker who have access to the whole lending market and can assist with homeowner, help to buy, re-mortgaging, offset and buy to let products.
• We can of course assist with the sale of your property helping to keep things under control from both ends of the process.

Property searches

Having established your list of must haves and with a clear idea of your available funding, you can begin to put together your shortlist of potential homes. By registering your interest with us we can ensure that suitable properties are flagged up to you as they become available (and sometimes before).

Arranging Viewings

When a property becomes available, it is important to secure a viewing asap. We can always be flexible with appointments and can set these up with vendors and owners for you. We will always accompany you on the viewing to provide help and advice as far as we are able based on our knowledge of the property. Like many agents, we may ask you to provide confirmation of your position prior to confirming a viewing with you. Vendors will often only wish to accept viewings from those who are is a position to proceed with a purchase.

Conveyencing

Alongside the busy work of finding the right property, it is important to prepare to engage a solicitor/conveyancer that can carry out the legal work for you once your purchase process begins. A successful purchase can be so much less stressful when an experienced and efficient solicitor is on board. Their work will involve:

• Reviewing and advising on the sale contract.
• Dealing with local searches.
• Advising on any legal issues or implications.
• Agreeing dates for exchange of contracts and sale completion.
• Handling the transfer of funds from purchaser to seller.

The sale process

Having found the right property, we will put forward your offer to the vendor including any conditions made and will negotiate accordingly. If not previously established, you will be asked to demonstrate that you are in a position to proceed. This will involve providing evidence of funding and a mortgage in principle agreement etc.

When your offer is accepted, we will:

• Prepare a memorandum of sale.
• Write to all parties to confirm the agreed price and conditions.
• Request, from you, confirmation of your solicitor and lender/mortgage broker details.

You should at this point confirm to your solicitor and mortgage broker the instruction to proceed.

Within the process your mortgage lender, or indeed you, may require a survey of the property and we can assist with the arrangements for this. This will confirm the property’s value leading to a formal mortgage offer being issued by the lender for your signature.

So far there are no legal obligations on you to proceed with purchase of course, this only comes with the exchange of contracts.

If all the enquiries have been dealt with and agreements made, it is time to exchange contracts. Once the contracts are signed by all parties, a deposit will be paid via a transfer from your solicitor to the vendor’s solicitor. At this point both parties are committed to complete the purchase and a completion date will be agreed between the parties.

On the day of completion, the remaining funds required for the purchase will be transferred from your solicitors to the vendor’s solicitors to complete the sale. Once we are advised that the funds have cleared with the vendor, we can release the keys to you.