Which comes first?

Ollie_D

Morning All,

I am currently considering placing an offer on a property and wanted to check what I needed in place.

The three things I can think of are Solicitor, Mortgage and Survey. Which of this need to be 'ready-to-go' if the offer is accepted, and it's accepted which order should I progress?

Any help appreciated.

casualwalks

I can only tell you what I've done.
1. Instructed a solicitor. I needed to do this first as the EA would only list the property as sold stc and send out paper work once I had informed them of my solicitors details. However, I don't imagine the solicitor will do much until the mortgage is approaved.
2. Submitted the mortgage application in full. We are still waiting on the outcome.
3. Once the mortgage comes through will get a survey done. I'm not prepared to pay for a survey until I know we've got the mortgage.

Doozergirl

Mortgage before you put an offer in. Survey and solicitor in the same breath as each other once offer is accepted.

Some people choose one before the other but I believe it's a long enough process already without purposefully dragging it out and any attempt to save money by doing one before the other is pointless as the result from either could cause you to pull out.

loofer

Initially, at the point of placing the offer, the EA may well want to see proof of funds ... or pre-qualify you. So they might want to see a mortgage 'agreement in principle'/offer to take you seriously.

You also need to be shopping around for a solicitor and surveyor as well, especially if you need to move fast on the deal. Some vendors require quick completion. You will want the surveyor before the solicitor, as the survey report will help you decide if you want to renegotiate, pull out or go ahead with the sale and arrange the solicitor.

Your mortgage provider will have a surveyor provide a valuation report (very very basic) but you have the option to pay extra and use their surveyor to provide a full building survey (more detailed).

Ollie_D

Thanks for all the advice, so far.

I currently have a 'Decision a Principle' from L&C although I'm not sure that's worth much.

With regards to arranging a mortgage do you need to have the exact value you will be paying for the property, as this may change following a survey.

Also is it possible to do the mortgage valuation and home buyers report at the same time, and would this need to be done with a company advised by the mortgage company?

Sorry for all the questions.

Ollie_D

Any other advice guys?

Thanks

tyler80

We did

1) AIP
2) Made an offer
3) Instructed a solicitor and completed full mortgage application (same day)
4) Survey arranged after mortgage agree subject to valuation survey.

That process took 10 days and 3 of those were a bank holiday weekend

GAH

Your AIP (agreement in Principle) doesn't mean that much, you are right there.

But what it does show is that you have been motivated enough to see how much you can borrow.

Once you have put your offer, the estate agent will probably want to pre qualify your offer by either speaking to your broker, seeing your AIP and possibly seeing a proof of deposit.

You then need to get your Mortgage Application Submitted.


In regards to having a solicitor in place, some people will have done their research before making any offers and some people will start getting quotes once they have put in an offer. Theres no right and wrong here, but things may get done a little quicker if you already have a solicitor in place.

Yes you can get the Mortgage Valaution and homebuyers done at the same time. The surveyors that carry out valuations and surveys do not work for the lenders directly, so if you ask your lender for a homebuyers, the same surveyor will carry it out (at a cost).