What to do immediately after one's offer is accepted?

Myflat

Hello

Finally, after so many months of looking, my offer has been accepted. Now - in all my excitement - I am a bit lost when it comes to the next step.

What do I do now - find a solicitor first or do a survey or get the mortgage in place? Or do I do everything at the same time?

As always, thanks for your advice!

Blondiebird

HI Myflat,

Congratulations on the offer being accepted. We are in the process of buying a house at the moment, so feel qualified to help you!

First of all ask the Estate Agent to take the property off of the market. Secondly the Estate Agent will send you details of the sale, which essentially is the property details and what you have agreed to buy the property for. The Estate Agent will want to know who your solicitor is and who your mortgage lender is. You'll need a solicitor in place before you can apply for a mortgage so if you haven't got this in place, do it now. Shop around a bit for the best quotes (try at least 3).

Once your solicitor is in place, you'll need to prove your identification to them (money laundering laws). This is usually a utility bill with your name and address on it, passport or driving license, or a credit card/debit card with associated bill. This will enable the solicitor to start their work. So be prepared.

Then get on to your mortgage supplier and fill out the application form. Mortgage lenders also require identification and willl usually ask for your P60 or your latest 3 months payslips. They will also ask for 3 months worth of bank statements. This enables them to not only verify your earnings, but to see that you have enough disposable income to re-pay the mortgage. Once your application has gone through with all of the neccesary paper work you'll wairt about 5 days to receive an answer. if they agree, you'll need to get a survey done. The survey values the property so that the lender can feel confident that if the property is repossed they can re-sell the property at the same value (or higher) than what you paid for it.

Once the valuation is received (usually another 5 days) the valuer will send the report to the lenders and you will receive a formal mortgage offer. The valuation will also include the square footage of the property building and re-instatement cost which you will need for your buildings insurance.

While all this is happening your solicitor willbe running seraches and will receive the draft contract of the house purchase. They will check all of the usual things such as boundaries, boilers, and planning permissions etc.

Once all of this information is through and you are happy with it, you progressd to exchanging contracts. You now have to have your buildings insurance and life insurance in place. Once you are happy with the contracts you exchnage and will be expected to hand over the deposit. At this point you are legally bound to the sale.

Once you have exchnaged documents you agree a completion date, this is when the money is transferred from the mortgage company and you've bought your property. Hurrah!

Bit long-winded - hope it helps!:)

Cannon_Fodder

They accepted your offer without a mortgage in principle ? Well done. Concentrate on making sure a mortgage will be approved, so as not to waste too much money on solicitors until you are sure you will proceed.

The survey will be as a stage of the mortgage process.

Give a solicitor a heads up, but ask to hold off doing too much until the mortgage is firmed up.