Welcome back to our 2-part series on ‘how exactly do you buy a house?’. If you missed part 1, you can go back and read it here. In our previous post we covered the beginning of the process – starting with working out your moving costs and how much you can borrow, to finding your ideal property and agreeing a sale. You might think that that’s the bulk of the work done, but there’s still a fair amount to do before you get the keys and move in. So without further ado, let’s dive into part 2!
Complete Your Mortgage Application
Now that you have a property and a solicitor on hand, it’s time to get back in touch with your mortgage lender and move your application along. In our last part we talked about getting a ‘mortgage in principle’, which is what allowed you to start searching for a property. Now is the time to evaluate all of your options, talk to your mortgage adviser and complete the application. It’s also a good time to consider any insurances you may want to take out on yourself or your family, so that your mortgage could be paid off if the worst were to happen and you weren’t able to support them financially. This is the most common reason for taking out life insurance policies, and a good mortgage adviser will be able to talk you through the options. Think about using a broker that covers the “whole of market” as they’ll be able to advise you on the best deals available, rather than being tied to one company.
Get a Mortgage Valuation
In order to approve your mortgage application, you will need to have a valuation done on the property. This is to make sure that the property is worth how much you’re being lent, and that you’re not looking to borrow far more than the property is worth. In most cases your lender will arrange this as part of the application, but in rare cases you might be asked to do it instead. It’s also worth noting that this is simply a valuation, and won’t give you any details on the condition of the property. For this, you would need a house or building survey, and we highly recommend you have one done to identify any future problems early.
Conveyancing
‘Conveyancing’ is the fancy term for the legal process of transferring property or land from one owner to the other. It’s what makes the purchase legal, and it needs to be handled by your solicitor. This process will mostly go on without your input, you just need to instruct the solicitor to start, but it will include:
Draft contracts: The sellers solicitor will receive the title deeds from the seller, and they will use this to draw up a draft contract. This will then be sent to your solicitor for review, and may be revised if they feel it’s necessary.
Confirming details: Your solicitor contacts the sellers solicitor to confirm exactly what’s included in the sale. There may be some things that can be negotiated – for example leaving carpets and curtains – so it’s worth letting them know if there are specific things you want to keep. At this stage the solicitor will also enquire about things like boundaries, any alterations that have been made to the property, and any disputes from the past.
Searches: Your solicitor will also perform searches of the Land Registry and the Local Authority around the property. During these searches they will be checking for planning history, any potential developments around roads, drainage and mining, and any alterations on record.
Mortgage Confirmation
If everything goes well, now is about the time you’ll get official confirmation of your mortgage offer, and a nice thick document of all the terms and conditions. This is important, as you need this confirmation before you can exchange contracts and make the sale official.
Get Insurance
One of the conditions in that big pack will likely be that you have to get insurance on the property. Since things are going well, now is the best time to get some quotes in for both buildings and contents insurance, so you can be covered right away. Remember, you will need these policies to start from the exchange of contracts date.
Sign the Contract
You’ll receive an email or phone call from your solicitor, advising you that it’s time to sign on the dotted line and make it official. But don’t celebrate just yet, there’s still one more hurdle to get over.
Agree Moving Dates
With the contracts signed by both parties you can agree a date for exchanging contracts and completion. This gives you the date you can move into the property from, so this is a good time to get any removals quotes ready.
Exchange Contracts
This is where the money moves! Your deposit will be sent to the sellers solicitor, along with the contract, all signed by you. This is the point of no return, then you are legally bound to purchase the property. All relevant contracts now come into force.
Last Minute Moving Details
It’s time to pack the house, arrange the movers and let everyone know you’re about to change address. Don’t forget to contact your bank, your employer, your utility providers and anyone else relevant to advise them of your new address and moving date. If you need a postal redirect, now is the time to organise that too.
Completion
And that’s a wrap! Your solicitor will pay the balance of the purchase price to the sellers solicitor. Once they receive it, the sellers solicitor will inform the estate agent, the keys will be handed over to you. You now own the property – and it would be a great time to pop the champagne!
And that’s it! On completion you are now free to move into your new home and make it your own. It’s a pretty involved process, we’re not going to lie, but if you have a good team behind you then it should be relatively smooth and stress free. At Northwood, we aim to keep you informed at every stage of your house buying journey, and answer any questions you have along the way. So if you need any help, support or advice around buying your first home, we would love to help. Just get in touch to book a free consultation with one of our team.
