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Home Buyers Guide

The Buying Process

For many, buying a new house can be the most stressful ordeal they will ever go through but, because of the sheer number of potential problems, there is no way of ensuring that your purchase goes smoothly. One way of making it as smooth as possible is to break the whole process down into smaller tasks. This should make things much easier to face and reduce the amount of stress

Finding your dream home

When looking for a new home, don't limit yourself to one or two estate agents. Try and contact a number of local estate agents for appropriate properties and spend an entire day in the area you're looking in. This will allow you to get a better feel for the local community and facilities such as schools, transport links, shops and hospital/doctors facilities.

Don't forget that there are also thousands of houses registered on the internet on sites like findaproperty.com. This gives you the added advantage of being able to easily access a large number of properties across the country – perfect for people moving to a different region of the country.

Try and visit as many properties as possible – you should then have a better idea of comparisons between properties in the local area. Once you narrow them down to a shortlist have another look at them – but make sure you visit at a different time of day. Instead of a morning visit, try the afternoon. The lighting will be different and it will mean you get exposure to the house throughout the day.

On your second visit try and be a bit more thorough. Are there problems with the brickwork? Have damp spots been covered with a lick of paint? Is the wiring and plumbing up to scratch or will it need extensive work doing to it six months down the line? Make sure you have measurements for your cooker, fridge, washing machine etc so that you can check everything fits. Also, make sure that you have enough power points in each room for your needs.

Putting in an offer

On the whole, houses have established asking prices that the seller hopes to achieve. Any offer you make does not have to meet the asking price and, likewise, can exceed it if you feel that there are several parties interested in the property.

Before you make an offer you should consider a number of things.

• What's the lowest amount you want to try and offer?
• What's the highest price you would be willing to pay?
• What is middle ground that you are happy with?
• What is the property valued at?

When deciding what you want to offer remember to take account of additional costs such as insurance, solicitors costs, stamp duty etc. Once you have a figure you are happy with, contact the estate agent to put in the offer. If it is taken verbally it will not be legally binding, but if you put it in writing make sure that you state at the beginning that the offer is "SUBJECT TO CONTRACT AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE".

Moving Costs

There are a number of costs that you should budget for when moving home, including Stamp duty, Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee, valuation fees, survey fees, and buildings and contents insurance. There are also the actual moving costs to consider, be it hiring a van and moving yourself or hiring a removals firm. If you're selling a house then you should also remember that you will be charged by the estate agent – this could be either a commission or flat fee. In total these costs will be thousands of pounds and it is therefore very important that you budget for all these costs.

Surveys

It's surprising how many people purchase a property – one of the largest purchases they will ever make – and do not commission an independent survey of the property.

Although a survey may costs several hundred pounds in the long run it may save you much, much more by revealing defects that you had not or could not see. Be aware that these defaults will not be brought to light in a lenders valuation report. In fact, there are three surveys available:

1. Full building survey – sometimes called a structural survey, this is a comprehensive and detailed report on the current condition of the property. Any necessary repairs will be highlighted and anticipated major expenditure will also be shown up, such as roofing or rewiring work.
2. RICS Homebuyers Report – this is a pre-printed report supplied by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors which, although all aspects of the building are checked, the detail is slightly less than the structural survey. It is more suited to modern properties.
3. Defect Report – this reports on one specific defect as requested by the client. It will cover the extent of the defect and any remedial works required.

Legal Work

It is advisable to have a legal firm carry out any legal work required for the conveyancing (completion) of your purchase. While it is possible for you to do this yourself it is a complicated process and one best left to the professionals.

Today there are several specialist conveyancing firms whose charges are significantly lower than high street legal firms. Many have the advantage of being able to access the case file online at any time for updates.