Buying a property guide, a simplier way to buy.
Buy a new home doesn't have to be a minefield or take forever. Let us help you with the process with this 10 step guide to buying a property to get you going in the right direction.
For more information on buying a property, check out what the money saving expert has to say here.
Decisions First
Making the decision to buy your next home should come with some careful consideration to help make your buying experience a good one. The first thing to make sure is that buying a property suits your plans and finances.
Once you have a plan forming, it is time to get clear on how much you have to spend, the size and location of properties so that you can start checking out prices and get to know your budget.
Know Your Finances
There are two sides to checking your finances.
1 - Making sure that you have enough to buy a property, knowing that you can commit to a monthly mortgage as well as the running costs for your home and living expenses.
2 - Understanding the upfront costs that you will need to buy to buy a property.
Once you have all this set out, you can start looking at the size and location of properties so that you can start checking out prices that suit your budget.
Costs & Fees
There are a few costs and fees that are associated with buying a property that should be taken into consideration when looking at buying a property, including the deposit, insurance and mortgage payments, stamp duty, land tax charges and solicitors fees
Find out what it can cost you here
Find A Mortgage Provider
There are many mortgage providers out there and many mortgage types that come with different interest rates for different people and requirements.
View here to see a list of mortgage comparisons to find the right one for you.
Once you have found the right mortgage lender, you can then begin the process of the application.
The property search begins
Now that you have completed all of the ground works, it is time to start looking at different areas that you would like to move to.
Check out these areas by going to the areas, do they tick all of the boxes for what you require?
Next start looking at properties that suit your budget, book viewings and make sure you have a list of all the items that you require and any possible questions you would like to ask the agents on the viewings.
Viewings
Once you have found the property that you love, simply call the agent and make an appointment to go and view the property.
Viewings are normally 15 - 30 minutes. Have a really good look around the inside and outside of the property, ask the agent questions, and really get a good feel for the house, location and area.
A good thing to remember is to write down any specific questions that you would like to ask about the property before hand so that you remember to ask.
Making An Offer
Yey, you have found your ideal next home, but now it is time to make the offer and to be the best.
Find out how many other people are bidding on the house, what offers the seller would take and are they open to negotiations?
If the competition is low, you may decide to go in for a low offer and wait for a response and adjust your offer from there.
If your offer is accepted, then you can ask them to take the property off the market to avoid another buyer offering a higher bid, you may also pay the deposit to hold.
Appoint Your Solicitor
Now that you have made an offer, it is time to appoint a solicitor who will handle all of the legal processes, which is known as conveyancing - the legal process of passing ownership of a property from one person to another, including:
The Survey
To ensure that there is a smooth process to the sale of the property, it is vital that a home survey is completed. This is known as. conveyancing survey, and is to check the value of the property and its condition.
A basic survey will be arranged through your mortgage lender, but if you would like a more extensive survey completed you can ask them or arrange for yourself at an additional cost. You can look here for a RICS surveyor.
A Chartered Surveyor is a qualified expert who will draw up the reports detailing any issues with the property and the costs.
There are 3 levels of surveys which include:
Exchange & Complete
Once all of the paperwork has been completed, your solicitor has completed all of their stuff and the mortgage is all received, it's time to breathe! Now it is time to agree a completion date to exchange contracts with the sellers.
Once all the money has been exchanged and the contracts have been signed, the exchange date arrive and you will receive your keys and can begin moving into your new home.