Buying a Property

Buying a home is an exciting and fulfilling experience, but it is also a complex and time-consuming process that requires careful planning and attention to detail. We understand the challenges of buying a property and are here to help you every step of the way. 

Our team of experienced solicitors and conveyancers have prepared the following guide detailing the five key stages of the house buying process, from the initial steps of making an offer to post-completion tasks such as paying stamp duty, land tax and registering the transfer of ownership at the land registry.  

Five steps to buying a house

1. When your offer is accepted

Advise us as soon as your offer is accepted and provide our contact details to your estate agent who will then send us details of the transaction, including the sellers’ legal representative.
We will send you our initial pack which will include our costs estimate and general information to assist you.

If you are buying with the aid of finance, speak to your lender or financial advisor so that your mortgage offer is issued as early as possible.

Consider what type of survey you require (full structural to homebuyer valuation). Information to assist you with your decision is included in our initial pack.

2. Legal aspects

We will let you know as soon as we receive paperwork from the sellers' legal representative.

We will submit all the necessary searches on your behalf.

We will review the title of the property and raise necessary enquiries.

Once we have received all the necessary information, we will send a report to you with information relating to the transaction. The legal documents will also be sent to you for your signature in readiness for exchange of contracts.

3. Exchange of contracts

Once we have received replies to all of our enquiries, results to searches, your mortgage offer and your signed documents and deposit,we will be in a position to exchange. 

On exchange of contracts the completion date is fixed (this is the date you will become the legal owner of the property and will be able to move into it). You will then be legally bound to purchase the property on the agreed completion date.

You will need to put your buildings insurance on risk on exchange.

4. Completion

Prior to the completion date, we will request the mortgage money from your lender and will have sent you a completion statement showing the sum required from you to complete. This sum must be received the working day before completion to ensure there is no delay in completion taking place.

We will send the money to the sellers' solicitors and will advise you as soon as completion has taken place so that you can collect the keys from the Estate Agents.

5. Post completion

We will pay stamp duty (where applicable) and will register the transfer of ownership of the property at the Land Registry. We will send you confirmation when this has been finalised.

How we can help

We will work closely with you and your estate agent to ensure that the transaction proceeds as smoothly as possible. Whether you're a first-time buyer or an experienced property owner, do not hesitate to contact us and find out how we can help you.