Help needed with Process of buying a house :(.. confused

neas

Can soemone summarise the quick steps involved in buying a house?

My partner and I aren't desperate to move but have seen a house we would like to take a look at...

Its a reposession, on at a reasonable price and not the worst area of my town i believe....

I've had a look around mortgage rates with moneysupermarket.com and found a rate of 4.29% (from a few suppliers) for a 3 year fix....

I'm a complete novice to buying a house (first time buyer)...so can soemone explain what the 'step - by - steps' are in buying a house.

Am assuming something like:

1. View House (if like it start arranging a mortgage)
2. Get Mortgage in principle arrangement to prove we have funds (as its repossession)
3... xxx
4.. xxx
5. xxx


Am just unsure how solicitors and surveryos come into it...

Do I have to pay for the mortgage company surveryor to survery the propetyu? Presumably I can do this after we get a mortgage in principle arrangement? Will this check for subsidence? or do i have to pay more?

In terms of a solicitor.... i have no idea where to go... I know they handle the contractual side of things... and take a fee for it but am unsure where this comes along in 3-4-5....


Currently... the estate agents.. want me to use their mortgage broker.. to arrange mortgage in principle etc (presumably i will have to pay for this 'service')?

Anyways we viewing this Saturday.

neas

Also do anyone have any websites that track statistics and crime etc.. for a given area.

Thanks

sarah_elton

www.upmystreet.com for local area info, including crime rates

Re steps, normally it goes (assuming you don't have anything to sell):

1) Get mortgage AIP so you know your budget
2) View houses
3) Choose house
4) Make offer. If a price can be agreed, proceed to 5. If not, go back to 2.
5) Instruct solicitor
6) Do full mortgage application (doesn't have to be for the same mortgage as you got the AIP for)
7) Either get bank to send surveyor in (can use theirs as part of mortgage application) or arrange your own independent one
8) Wait, fill in/check all paperwork from solicitor/bank as it comes in
9) Check survey results once in
10) Wait a bit longer
11) Get contract from solicitor, sign, return
12) Exchange contracts with seller (from this point, neither side can pull out without substantial penalty)
13) Complete (get keys)

On a reposession however, you usually have to complete within a fixed number of days so you have to be very organised and have a good solicitor.

All estate agents will want you to see their broker. You are under no obligation to. If you do, ask if they are whole of market, and how they get paid (i.e. what fee they will charge). You shouldn't have to pay just to see them, and if they can get you a cheaper deal than you can find yourself it may be worth the fee to go for it.

Full detail of the process is here:
http://www.home.co.uk/guides/buying/

They say you hire a solicitor before making an offer. Personally I don't think that's necessary (may be for a repo that has to move faster). Just be prepared to ring round solicitors as soon as your offer is accepted, get quotes, pick one and instruct them. Sellers will want your solicitor instructed quickly to show you are serious about proceeding.

neas

Thanks, that summarises it quite a bit.


What about surverys? the house is prob 20 years old max... so the home.co.uk website recommends just a homebuyers survery (+ banks valuation survery). When would you want to do a structural survery?

Am going to view property and if we like it (not sure wife will etc) start to get mortgage in principle.

When you say repossession wants to be faster... do you mean they want to sell fast I guess?

Hauzen

There's also this thread that details the buying process in Scotland:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2200499

neas

Thanks hazuzen... am buying in england at moment though... although must admit its such a complicated thing.. :O

HRV

You really need your agreement in principle before offering. We are buying a repo and before they would even accept the offer they wanted to see my mortgage agreement and a bank statement to prove I had the deposit.

If you have got to have a structural survey its cheaper to organise yourself- the mortgage company wanted the same amount for a homebuyers as we paid for a full structural- although you do still need a valuation survey too if you do this

Be warned though repossessions are not that simple. They will not take it off the market and so if at ANY point before completion they may accept an offer from someone else. This happened to us last week, after all surveys, searches, mortgage offer, and we've had to increase our offer:mad:
But thats what repos are like

Good luck with it

neas

We had a look at the pictures last night... and i think the layout is slightly putting us off... we got the viewing booked tomorrow.... so if we really have that 'want' feeling we will start to proceed down the mortgage in principle route.

Interesting that homebuyers survery was same as structural survery... guess i need to shop around to find a cheaper survery.

funkymonkey849

HRV wrote: »

You really need your agreement in principle before offering. We are buying a repo and before they would even accept the offer they wanted to see my mortgage agreement and a bank statement to prove I had the deposit.

No you don't. Maybe it's different for a repo, but we were advised not to get an AIP because a lot of people don't find a house before they expire. We saw a mortgage broker who advised how much we could realistically be able to borrow and said to come back once we'd had an offer accepted. We saw houses with 5 different agents and they were all happy that we were seeking mortgage advice but didn't have an AIP.

sarah_elton

Full buildings survey is only really necessary on houses more than 100 years old or those requiring a lot of work (e.g. something that has been untouched since the 1930s).

However, I personally would have a full buildings survey done if I bought any house that had had structural work done (e.g. if it had been extended). I know it's over the top, but a full survey is around £500 more than a Homebuyers Report and to me, it's worth it if the house has been structurally altered and I'm spending quarter of a million quid on it.

EDIT: Ooh, also very interesting about shopping around for your own survey - we're viewing an extended house tomorrow so I'll remember that if we go for it, thanks! To neas - just remember that your mortgage lender will insist on their valuation survey being done, so you'll have to pay them for that, as well as pay a separate surveyor if you hire your own.

Milliewilly

sarah_elton wrote: »

Full buildings survey is only really necessary on houses more than 100 years old or those requiring a lot of work (e.g. something that has been untouched since the 1930s).

However, I personally would have a full buildings survey done if I bought any house that had had structural work done (e.g. if it had been extended). I know it's over the top, but a full survey is around £500 more than a Homebuyers Report and to me, it's worth it if the house has been structurally altered and I'm spending quarter of a million quid on it.

EDIT: Ooh, also very interesting about shopping around for your own survey - we're viewing an extended house tomorrow so I'll remember that if we go for it, thanks! To neas - just remember that your mortgage lender will insist on their valuation survey being done, so you'll have to pay them for that, as well as pay a separate surveyor if you hire your own.

Age is not a factor for building survey, the house may not have been built propery or the land its built on may be moving etc. If you are unsure get a full survey done.