The “Buying Your Home” Checklist.

November 4, 2015

Buying a home can be one of the biggest commitments that you will ever make and also the most expensive. You need to make sure you get everything right.

If you have bought a home before you will be familiar with the process and what’s needed to successfully buy a home. But if you’re new to the process, then take a look at our essential checklist of what makes moving as seamless and hassle-free as possible.

Budget

Money is naturally one of the most important things. You should save as much money as possible for your deposit so that re-payments will be smaller each month. Sit down with you mortgage provider and work out costs and see how much they are prepared to lend you. It is also better to shop around and see what you can get for your money.

Checklist

What do you need in a house? Make a checklist of things you are looking for eg. Bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen size. Do you want a garden or a garage or both? Are you looking for a project or something you can move straight into? It never hurts to be prepared.

Viewings

Think about making a list of questions which you will ask the estate agent. Things like “what are the neighbours like?” and “why are the vendors moving?”. Also make a list of what you like and dislike about the property when walking around it.

Move fast

You have to be careful when buying a property as you don’t know how many other people have viewed a house, so you have move fast. If you instantly love a property and you have compared it to your checklist and it ticks all right boxes, put an offer in. If the property is in a popular area, don’t be surprised if someone has got in there before you.

Legal

Once you have had your offer accepted you should find a solicitor who can take care of the legal side for you. They can carry out the appropriate Land Registry correspondence with the seller’s solicitor. Also get an independent chartered surveyor to look over the property and give you a detailed report about the condition and things you might not be able to see.

If everything runs smoothly and there are no hitches, the process should take about 6 weeks. On the day of completion your mortgage provider will transfer the money to your solicitors who will transfer it on to the seller’s solicitors. You will then be able to pick up the keys and enjoy your new home. If you have any problems, your solicitor should make every effort to solve them. Sometimes things happen which can delay the sale and it can’t be helped.

If you are selling your own property and are held up with the property you are buying, it can be sensible to find rented accommodation and put your belongings into storage in the meantime. You always need to be prepared.

Chloe Woodhouse – www.RightSurveyors.co.uk

Alex Evans

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