Conveyancing

First Time Buyers

We have detailed below are some other aspects of the house buying process to help first time buyers understand the whole process of buying a home.

The Mortgage

It is advisable to make enquiries to prospective lenders regarding your mortgage before you start seriously looking for a house. By doing this you can find out exactly how much the mortgage company is willing to lend you and you can obtain an offer in principle. This will speed up the process once you find a house and are ready to make an offer.

Costs

Try to budget for all the costs involved in buying and moving into a house, remember to include:

• Solicitor’s fees
• Stamp duty land tax
• Mortgage costs
• Insurance costs
• Removals costs
• Survey costs

Making an offer

When you’ve found the right property, make a verbal offer through the estate agent handling the sale. The estate agent acts as intermediary between you and the sellers to negotiate the price, but do remember that they act for the seller who pays their fees.
Once your verbal offer has been agreed the deal becomes ‘subject to contract’, which only becomes legally binding when it has been signed by both parties and exchanged by their solicitors.

Professional Advice

Once your offer is agreed you need to instruct the following professionals to ensure that each aspect of your house purchase runs smoothly.

Surveyor

A surveyor will assess the structure of the house, its condition and any restorative work required. This will depend on the type of survey you have. The three types of survey available are:

Valuation

This type of survey is carried out by your mortgage lender. This is a very basic survey and is only for the purposes of ensuring that the house is suitable for the mortgage lender to lend money on.

Homebuyers’ survey

This should pick up all major faults with the property as well as things which could need work in the future.

Building survey

This is the most thorough type of survey and is often referred to as a ‘full structural survey’. It is more expensive but it is recommended for very old properties or those in need of work, or simply if you want the extra peace of mind that it can provide.

Insurance

You will need two types of insurance to protect your property and your mortgage. A life insurance or endowment policy, and buildings insurance to protect the building from unforeseen damage.
You may also want to arrange home contents insurance for when you move into the house.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

SDLT is a tax on transactions relating to UK land and buildings. A percentage is charged according to the purchase property price.

The current rates are:

Up to £125,000                                                Nil
£125,001 - £250,000                                      1%
£250,001 - £500,000                                      3%
Over £500,000                                                 4%

Contact us for a consultation or follow the links for more information.