Buyers Guide

The sale is agreed and a reservation form is filled in with details of the property of your choice, the price, the buyer(s), and any special conditions (e.g timeframe) and the solicitors details. Don’t worry if you don’t have a solicitor as we can suggest several highly respected solicitors who can act on your behalf at a competitive cost, but either way you will need to instruct a solicitor quickly to get the purchase moving.

A reservation deposit of £1,000 is paid by you to secure the property and then we take the home off the market, in accordance with the Reservation Agreement. This allows the builders solicitors (Guest Walker) to send a Legal Information Pack to your solicitor which will include all of the information necessary for your solicitor to progress the legal purchase.

The Solicitor you have chosen will write to you to confirm their instructions to purchase the property. They will ask you to provide personal identification information and the search fees which are crucial to your purchase –please pay these as soon as possible, otherwise the purchase cannot begin.

If you need to borrow to buy the property then you will need to apply for a mortgage, (the sales negotiator is able to recommend a financial advisor to help should you need one). The financial advisor will find the best mortgage to suit your needs. He/she will also need a copy of your identification information (passport and utility bill for example). (If you are purchasing “off plan” then our sales negotiator can explain the mortgage process).

You may need to pay the valuation fee (usually approx £350) to the bank or building society (lender) who offer you the mortgage and they will instruct a surveyor to undertake a mortgage valuation. The Surveyor will visit to inspect the property and provide his completed valuation report to the lender and will usually also send a copy to the buyer.

Following this the lender will send both you and your solicitors the formal mortgage offer letter.

Your solicitor will check the Legal Information Pack and agree the Contract and Transfer with the sellers solicitors. There may be specific queries which require clarification by the sellers solicitors, however, the Legal Information Pack will be as comprehensive as possible so it is unlikely there will be many additional questions.

Once a mortgage offer is received by your solicitor and your searches have been returned (around 10 days after application), your signature will be required on the following documents:

1. Contract
2. Mortgage Offer

Please contact your solicitor regularly to ensure you can make an appointment prior to your deadline.

At this point you must pay to your solicitors a deposit of 10% of the purchase price in readiness for exchange and completion. It is usually given to your solicitor on the day of your signature appointment. Please be aware that deposit funds should be paid by Telegraphic Transfer, Electronic Transfer (internet banking) or Bankers Draft not a personal cheque as they take 5 working days to clear putting you at risk of missing your deadline. If you do wish to pay by personal cheque, ensure this is sent to your solicitor 1 week prior to exchange being due.

When both the buyers and sellers solicitors have signed Contracts available, the Contract is exchanged, and the deposit monies are paid to the sellers solicitor (and held by them), this is the point at which you are committed to the purchase, legal completion follows at a date agreed when the balance of the purchase price is paid and you take ownership of your new home.