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Buyer Guide

123estateAgent buyers guide

1 Deciding your budget

Buying a property is a big step involving a substantial long-term financial commitment, so think hard about what you can afford. You will need to consider the assets you have – like savings – as well as the money that’s coming in and going out.

Although it may reduce your buying options, you don’t want to commit to a mortgage and then realise you can’t afford some of the nicer things in life! It may sound obvious but take time to think of all the things you spend money on throughout the year, even without a mortgage.

2 Getting a Mortgage

Every lender has different ways of calculating how much they will lend to you, or even whether they will lend to you at all. It includes criteria such as your income, the size of your deposit, your regular expenditure, and your credit rating. These will be considered for both of you if you are making a joint application.

 Chancery mortgage services are directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and provide whole of market advice for mortgages, equity release, lifetime mortgages and protection products. Our industry connections provide us with the latest research software and systems to ensure the level of advice received by our clients is second to none.

They are independent of any mortgage, equity release, lifetime mortgage and insurance companies whose services we may recommend. Our extensive research enables us to offer independent mortgage and protection advice incorporating the most appropriate products that are available in the marketplace today.

Many lenders have a two tier product range; they have mortgages they distribute through mortgage advisors, and others that may be promoted through their own sales operations such as branches, website or telesales. We are very pleased to inform you that we have access to all products in the UK marketplace. This means that we can find you the most appropriate mortgage using our expertise and access to all products in the UK, potentially helping you make significant savings.

For further advice please contact Chancery Mortgages or Email info@chancerymortgage.co.uk who are able to offer a range of mortgage solutions to suit your current needs and circumstances. They are independent financial advisors who are committed to providing our clients with professional, independent and competitive advice, thus guaranteeing the personal touch every step of the way.

Help To Buy ISA

Help To Buy Equity Loan

3 Finding the perfect property

In order to find the ideal property you will need to consider what aspects of a property are most important to you:

House or Flat

Budget

Number of bedrooms / bathrooms

Separate kitchen and dining room

Area

How much time/money you may want to spend redecorating etc.

Let us know exactly what type of property you are looking for and the elements that you could possibly compromise on.  Please be sure to mention any deal breakers or particular dislikes .

Use our website to find out as much as you can about a property you like using the photographs, floor plans, virtual tours and local information that is available with most descriptions.  

Buying a leasehold property

The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) is funded by the Government to provide free advice on the law affecting residential leasehold property.

lease-advice

Stamp duty

For information on Stamp Duty and the latest rates look at: 

Stamp Duty Rates

4 Conveyancing

A Conveyancer or Solicitor will also undertake a good portion of the legal leg work needed to help you make the right decisions and navigate this process successfully.

The conveyancer working on behalf of the buyer will give advice regarding terms and conditions of the Contract of Sale. They will point out any specific terms that you should be aware of. This also applies to the vendor’s contract. If there are any planning restrictions or other details out of the ordinary that you should consider, the conveyancer or solicitor should be able to help point these out to you. It’s always a good idea to let your solicitor or conveyancer read through your Contract of Sale before you sign it.

Although your conveyancer or solicitor will usually not be involved with the direct finance arrangements; they can help you arrange the settlement with your bank, facilitating this process by ensuring that your bank receives all the necessary title details and assisting them when the time comes to prepare mortgage documents. They can also help give the bank cheque details for the vendor. A solicitor will have the legal training necessary to help give you advice regarding your mortgage documents, which is why some will choose to work with a solicitor rather than a conveyancer.

If there are any adjustments needed before settlement, the conveyancer can assist you and make sure that you only pay the costs associated with the property from the date of settlement. This helps prevent you from paying for things such as council and water rates before the settlement date. Finally, the solicitor or conveyancer can help you determine what statuary fees need to be paid these will depend on several factors, including the purchase price of the property and the state or territory in which you purchased the property.

Arranging Settlement

One of the major roles of any Solicitor or Conveyancer is to help arrange the final details of settlement.

The buyer’s conveyancer or solicitor will also help coordinate a good time for settlement on the allotted day. The conveyancer will contact your bank to make sure that your funds are in place to pay the vendor, booking settlement and providing the bank with any necessary cheque details. If you are holding the funds yourself, you need to bring these to the conveyancer at least 24 hours before the settlement date to ensure that there is enough time. The conveyancer will then contact 123 Estate Agent estate agent and direct us to give you the keys and they’ll tell you when the home is ready.

Here is our quick guide to understanding what a conveyancer does. They will:

Obtain sellers’ responses to questions, such as who owns the boundaries, whether they have had any disputes with neighbours and what fixtures and fittings are included

Check copies of any guarantees on the property, details of planning permissions and building regulation certificates

Check the seller really is the owner of the property and prepare a Report on Title for you

Check local authority searches and plans for the local area

Pay stamp duty tax on the property

Arrange registration of title in your name

Legal matters

For your local Citizens Advice Bureau visit 

Citizensadvice

For help in finding a solicitor as 123 Estate Agent or contact The Law Society

Lawsociety

5 What Happens Next?

In England and Wales, Exchange of Contracts is the last stage of the legal process after which you cannot withdraw from the sale (without losing your deposit and any legal costs you may have incurred).

Once everything is ready, you’ll then be asked to pay a deposit – usually 10% (but sometimes 5%) of the purchase price agreed , before contracts can be exchanged. If the buyer pulls out after this stage, they will lose their deposit and may face legal action from the seller. It is essential to have Buildings Insurance cover in place at this stage and buyers should also consider other protection such as Life Insurance.

A date for completion is usually set for at least one week after contracts are exchanged. This should give you enough time to arrange moving in.

Your conveyancer will call you to tell you when your money has arrived – so you can collect  the keys and move in. The conveyancer will also send you a completion statement. Read it carefully – it should reflect their original quotation.

6 Preparing for Moving Day

It is unusual to hear from someone who didn’t have a stressful time moving, but being organised is the trick to minimise your stress levels during this time.

Here are some tips to make moving day as smooth as possible:

Use a good removal firm – Look for members of the British Association of Removers who operate a strict code of conduct.

James Removals

Any Van

If possible, try to stagger moving days so you don’t have to do everything all in one day.  This can also give you time to do any essential work to the new property such as carpet cleaning or any decorating before all your belongings arrive.

Try to avoid Mondays and Fridays which are the busiest days on the roads.

Save time and cost by doing some of the packing yourself.

Check out the best value utility contracts for your new property well in advance and read the meters in both properties on moving day.

Redirect post well beforehand – this is especially essential to protect yourself from identity theft.

If your new home has any appliances left behind, download the instruction manuals from the manufacturer’s website.

7 Completion

Completion is when the residual monies are transferred from your solicitor to the seller’s solicitor’s account. 123estateAgent will release the keys once the money has cleared in the seller’s account

Congratulations, you are now the legal owner of your new home!

7 Insurance

Home emergency cover protects your home against events like blocked drains, boiler breakdowns, burst pipes or electrical failure.

It’ll cover the cost of call-out fees and repairs but won’t cover the cost of repairing damages caused by the emergency.

Go Compare Home Energy Insurance

You’ll need contents insurance for that.

Go Compare Contents Insurance