First Time Buyer’s Guide
Who is involved?
Buyer
The purchaser of the property, namely you!
Estate Agent
The agent acting for the Seller and the place (usually) where you enquired about purchasing the property, obtained the details and arranged a viewing.
Seller
The vendor (and the other party involved in the transaction).
Buyer’s Solicitor
The Solicitor acting for the Buyer who will ensure that all of the legal requirements of the Buyer are met and all enquiries on the Buyer’s behalf regarding the property have been made (and the person who will complete the purchase on the Buyer’s behalf).
Seller’s Solicitor
Solicitor acting for the Seller who will generally be the one providing the legal information about the property to the Buyer’s Solicitor.
What about financing the purchase?
When will I need to arrange the mortgage?
If you haven’t already thought about it, financing your purchase will be something that will be brought to your attention at the outset by the Estate Agent as they will be keen to know (if they are spending time selling a property to you) that you have the necessary finance to complete the purchase.
The lender, be it a building society, bank or private lender, will make the offer available to you and then instructions will be sent to us as your solicitor. We will then check through the mortgage offer to ensure that it concurs both with your expectations and the selling price (and any associated conditions).
Once all is in place for the purchase we will arrange for you to sign the mortgage documents so that we are ready to ask the lender for the funds to be able to complete the purchase.
When will I need to pay my Solicitors’ Fees?
We will only require payment of our fees upon completion of the transaction or if the transaction is aborted. No fees are required up front.
What about Stamp Duty?
Again Stamp Duty will only be required on the completion of the purchase. We will prepare a completion statement in readiness for the completion date which will ask you for the outstanding funds to complete the purchase (including registration). Stamp Duty will be included in this statement.
And Land Registry Charges?
These will be included in the completion statement.
How do I make the payments?
The funds drawn from the lender (your mortgage) will be by way of an electronic transfer direct from the bank. There is no requirement for you to do anything once all the documents are signed.
However, if you are paying a deposit this will need to be paid to us in time for funds to be cleared by the bank before exchange of contracts (this normally takes 3 days).
And Finally
The whole process usually takes between 4 and 8 weeks depending upon the nature and complexity of the transaction, whether it is a newly built home, in a chain or otherwise. Where there are complications, such as the death of the Seller, a problem with the Seller’s title or information is slow coming from the Seller, then undoubtedly this timescale will be affected.
