Going to sign the contract tomorrow - any advice?

cazs

Hello,

I'm a first time buyer, buying a one bed flat in central London.

I am going to the solicitor tomorrow to sign the contracts.

I know he will go through all the paperwork with me but does anyone have any advice as to important questions to ask and so on or things to be aware of?

(Mortgage is in place, survey complete, no major issues)

It is such an important step and I feel rather unsure that I know everything I ought?

somethingcorporate

Signing in the presence of the solicitor sounds unusual (but good).

It would be worth asking them whether there is anything unusual in the contracts.

southerngirl_2

Hi,

I was in your position in March, first time buyer buying a flat. Like you I met with my solicitor to sign the contracts. My solicitor went through the lease with me word for word. I'd read the lease prior to meeting with him and identified any clauses I needed him to explain in greater detail. He reconfirmed the results from all the searches and that the vendors solicitor/management company had responded to all my queries to my satisfaction and that there was nothing outstanding. Being a leasehold property I confirmed that the service charges were paid up until the day of completion by the vendor. The solicitor informed me of fees/charges incurred should completion fail to happen on the specified day. I can't recall asking the solicitor anything else.

I don't know how frequently this occurs but on my completion day despite my bank releasing the mortgage funds in the morning the funds didn't reach my solicitor until late in the afternoon and so I did incur costs for late completion which were passed down the chain to me. In hindsight I would've asked my solicitor if it was possible to request the mortgage funds the day before completion to reduce the risk of completing late.

Congrats on buying your first property!