Purchasing a home can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first time. The choices you make when purchasing a home might either save you or cost you tens of thousands of pounds. You can easily achieve a stress-free property journey by choosing experts like estate agents in Winchester who can ably guide you through the entire process. Here is our step-by-step guide to buying a house, complete with a checklist for each important stage.
With the help of the links provided in each area of our step-by-step guide, you can learn more about each step you’re likely to take while buying a property.
1. Determine whether or not buying a property is right for you.
Despite the fact that 86% of UK citizens desire to own their own homes, this is not always the case. Before beginning your search for a home, there are many things to consider, not the least of which is whether you can actually afford it.
2. Choose whether to sell first.
If you already own a home, decide whether you want to sell it before you purchase a new one. In a rising market, it may be riskier, but there are benefits as well. In particular, you won’t be shackled to a housing chain and will be able to act fast when you do find the home of your desires. We look at the steps you can take to make things go more smoothly if you decide to buy and sell at the same time.
3. Establish a budget.
What budget do you have in mind? Depending on how big of a deposit you can put up, this might change. Remember the variety of upfront and ongoing fees associated with purchasing a property. They can increase the price of your property by 15% or more if you are conducting significant building or redecorating work.
4. Set up your funds.
Determine how much of a down payment you can put towards a mortgage. Consider your savings, and the amount you would receive if you sold your existing property and paid off your deposit. Cash in any savings you have on long-term deposit that you intend to use. You’ll need to decide what kind of mortgage you want, unless you plan to pay cash for the property. Despite the fact that you cannot obtain a mortgage prior to making a purchase, you can obtain a mortgage in principle, which can strengthen your hand. A mortgage broker might be especially useful if you need mortgage assistance, want to look at every type of mortgage available, or have unique circumstances, like being self-employed.
5. Choose a place to call home.
There is not much to decide if you wish to relocate to a new home around where you already reside. Making the decision to relocate to a new neighbourhood or across the country is more challenging and time-consuming. If you make the wrong choice, you risk being unhappy in your current residence or having to pay for another move. You might be debating between purchasing a brand-new home and an existing older or period property.
6. Choose a property.
When you’ve decided where you want to reside, do extensive research on the properties there to familiarise yourself with the neighbourhood market. The next step is to court neighbourhood estate agents. Be sure there are no hidden surprises by touring as many properties as you can. Also, it’s crucial to know whether the property is freehold or leasehold and that its term is not limited.
7. Make a proposal and have it accepted.
As a buyer, make sure you are in the best possible position. Get to the head of the purchasers’ line. Establish your budget, taking into account the cost of fixtures and furnishings. Offer the estate agent an offer to close the sale. To demonstrate your seriousness, you might be required to pay a nominal holding deposit of £500 or $1000. If the sale doesn’t go through, it will be returned. Perhaps the vendor will accept your offer. Think about purchasing home buyer’s protection insurance.
8. Set up a mortgage
Prior to making an offer, you should ideally have your money as organised as possible. If yes, all that’s left to do is return to your mortgage provider with the accepted offer and finish the transaction. If you don’t already have your finances in order, you must act swiftly to do so before the seller loses patience. Before you can exchange contracts, you must first get the lender to issue you a formal mortgage offer. It is also a good idea to think about getting life insurance if you’re buying with a mortgage at this time.
9. Use a conveyancer or solicitor
You must hire a solicitor or conveyancer to perform the legal process necessary to transfer ownership of the property to you once you have accepted an offer on your home. Locate and compare conveyancing estimates from vetted and licenced conveyancing attorneys in your region. You might be forced by your mortgage provider to choose from among those on their panel, in which case they would make the choice for you. Don’t always choose the one the estate agent recommends.
10. Exchange of contracts
When you and the seller exchange contracts, you commit legally to buying the property, and they commit legally to selling it.
Your 10% deposit may be lost if you cancel after this without good cause. Before exchanging contracts, you should agree on a completion date with the seller, which should be roughly four weeks following the exchange. You should only exchange contracts once you have received the surveyor’s report and made any necessary steps.
11. Finalise the purchase
Completion, which occurs at a specific time of day, usually around noon, is when you pay for the property and acquire possession of it. The money is transferred and the property deeds are transferred between each side’s conveyancer on the day of completion.
After the searches are approved by the solicitor or conveyancer, an official mortgage offer is obtained, and plans are made for the 10% deposit, only then can contracts be exchanged.
