Steps to Take When Buying Your First Home, According to Conveyancing Solicitors

Buying your first home is exhilarating and, in equal measure, daunting. There is so much to remember that the sensible question is simply where to begin. Happily, a purchase follows a well worn path, and a good conveyancing solicitor walks it with you. Here are the steps, as conveyancing solicitors see them.

Step one: settle the budget, then find the home

Before the viewings begin, work out what you can put down as a deposit and what a lender is realistically likely to advance; a mortgage decision in principle costs little and clarifies much. Look for a home you can see yourself in for years, and with an eye to how it would sell or improve later. Only then fall in love.

Step two: make the offer

When you are sure, offer. Your solicitor can support this stage, including reviewing your mortgage offer and valuation. Do not be afraid to offer below the asking price where the evidence justifies it; sellers frequently adjust when nothing better arrives.

Step three: the lender's valuation

If you are borrowing, the lender will commission a valuation survey. Understand it for what it is: a check that the property secures the loan, for the bank's purposes, and nothing more. It will not tell you what repairs the house needs.

Step four: your own survey

The survey proper is your responsibility, and skipping it is false economy. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors offers three levels. A Level 1 condition report gives a quick overview suited to newer homes. A Level 2 homebuyer survey adds detail on visible defects and includes a valuation, sensible for most conventional properties in reasonable condition. A Level 3 building survey, once called a structural survey, digs into the fabric of the building and is the right choice for older houses or any property that has seen better days. What the survey finds is also negotiating material: where repairs are needed, their likely cost is a fair basis on which to revisit the price.

Step five: finalising the offer and the finance

Armed with the valuation and survey, you either proceed or renegotiate. This is the anxious stretch of the journey, where sales fall through: a rival offer, a seller's change of heart, a mortgage declined. When the pieces hold, the mortgage is finalised, usually with a lender's fee paid up front or added to the loan.

Step six: exchange of contracts

Exchange is the moment of commitment. The deposit, ordinarily ten per cent, is paid, and neither party can walk away thereafter without serious consequences. Your solicitor will have completed searches and enquiries before you sign, so that you commit knowingly.

Step seven: completion and afterwards

On completion day the balance moves, the keys are released and the home is yours. Two formalities remain, both handled by your solicitor: the stamp duty land tax return must be filed and any tax paid within fourteen days of completion, and your ownership must be registered at HM Land Registry. Then, at last, the boxes.

About the author: Dr Aamir Nawaz, LLB (Hons), LLM, PhD, Solicitor, Barrister (np) and Notary Public.