The stages of buying a home

The conveyancer sends you a questionnaire (and our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide if you use our conveyancing services) and a costs estimate. You’ll need to sign and return the questionnaire for us to proceed, along with monies for searches. We also need evidence of identification (proof of person and proof of address) such as your current passport, birth certificate or driver’s licence.

You agree the purchase price with the seller and you instruct your conveyancer to act for you. You contact your mortgage lender to apply for your mortgage. You then need to instruct a surveyor to carry out any surveys required.

Your lender will issue a mortgage offer and, once we get this, we will report to you on this. We’ll also send you a Mortgage Deed which you will need to sign (in the presence of an independent witness) and return to us.

We will receive the contract pack from the seller’s conveyancer. We will review the title and make any additional enquiries. We will also request the local authority search and other searches.

Once all enquiries have been satisfactorily dealt with we send a report on title to you, along with any associated documentation and also the documents that you are required to sign. You sign the Contract, Transfer Deed and any other documents you’re required to sign, and return these to us along with deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price).

When the completion date is agreed the contracts are exchanged and the deposit is transferred. Once the contracts are exchanged, the completion date is set.

We request release of mortgage funds from your lender and carry out pre-completion searches. The deposit is usually paid to the seller’s conveyancer. We send you the final completion statement, specifying the final balance required, which you need to transfer to us before the day of completion. We send the balance purchase monies to the seller’s conveyancer on completion. Once funds are received they confirm completion and release the keys via the Estate Agents.

Move in, settle in, and enjoy your new home!