Questions to ask when buying a house
Welcome to our FAQ guide for home buyers, especially first-time buyers. When buying a property, it's crucial to ask the right questions. Unsure of what to inquire about? Learn the key questions to ask when buying a house, including asking open questions during conversations with Estate Agents. Find valuable insights on determining whether to make an offer, especially if you’ve had a positive viewing. The duration a house has been on the market, and evaluating the safety of the neighbourhood. Get expert advice from trusted London estate agents near you. Let's make your home buying journey a success!
A: Once you have made the decision on the property you wish to purchase, it is best to get property advice from your estate agent, especially if you want to negotiate the house sale and price. Your property agent will put your offer forward to the house seller for their consideration. At this point we will need to be able to let them know how you will be funding the purchase, so it is wise to get some mortgage advice prior to this stage. We will also need to inform the property seller of your position i.e. are you a first time buyer or do you have a property to sell. Legally all offers must be put forward in writing to the vendor and as soon as they have made a decision we will let you know.
Once the offer has been accepted you will need to instruct solicitors to act for you in your purchase. You will also need to speak to a mortgage broker so that they can arrange for the survey to be completed and your mortgage offer to be produced, as the solicitors will need these. We will keep in touch with you to chase the progress of these items and throughout the whole legal process we will keep you fully informed of any developments, liaising with you on a regular basis.
A: There are Solicitor/conveyancing fees, survey costs and mortgage lender's arrangement fee (only applicable on certain mortgages) buildings and contents insurance. Buildings insurance must be in place from exchange of contracts.
A Find out the cost of stamp duty when buying a house HMRC Stamp Duty land tax calculator. Enter the date of purchase and purchase price then submit to calculate the amount payable:
A: There are different types of surveys available. There is a very brief type of survey, known as a mortgage valuation. This is limited to a brief inspection of the property for any obvious faults and provides an assessment of its value.
The Homebuyer's report will go into more detail and will provide a fairly extensive report with appropriate findings.
Or a building survey (formerly known as a Structural Survey) is the most comprehensive and expensive type of survey available. It is suitable for any building, but is especially recommended buildings which have had lots of alterations or extensions and those constructed out of unconventional materials.
A: Typically the exchange of contracts is dependent on the property chain, the longer the chain sometimes the more complex. It can be anything between 7 to 28 days prior to completion. Once your solicitor has received your mortgage offer and is satisfied that all legal enquires have been dealt with you are then able to exchange contracts. At this stage you sign your contract and pay your deposit to your solicitor.
A: This is when ownership is transferred to the buyer. Your solicitor should receive the mortgage funds this is sent to the sellers solicitor. When the vendor’s solicitor receives the funds they notify your solicitor that monies have been received and that the keys can then be released. The sellers solicitor will contact us, if we are holding the keys, to confirm they can be released. We will then call and let you know that the keys to your new home are ready for collection!
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