FTB - What order to do things in

osc

Hi, hope someone may be able to help as i have realised that estate agents/solicitors/mortgage people are a fat lot of use!

My partner and i have had an offer accepted on a property 2 weeks ago, have appointed a soliciter and a mortgage lady. I just feel i'm getting nowhere! i have no written confirmation yet that our offer has been accepted and just want to get the ball rolling. Could anyone shed any light on who i should be hassling in what order to get everything done.

Many thanks in advance for your advice.

Osc

danuk

well i would say get your mortgage sorted and get an agreement in principle from them. Once you have this you can show it to the estate agent which basically shows you are able to get a mortgage. Once you have done this and you get a formal confirmation from estate agents re your offer then your good to go...

osc

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the advice, the mortgage lady has said to the estate agent mortgage is in process; but still nothing seems to be happening.
Sorry to sound simple but when you say "good to go" what should the next step be - i cant help feeling naive and dumb that i dont what the process of buying a house is!

danuk

well the main thing you want is a formal confirmation of the offer being accepted. Get this from the estate agents and then you will have to decide on type of valuation. I think your best bet is to ring the estate agents asking for formal confirmation and see what they say. Then if confirmed in writing that its agreed , arrange surveys, solicitors can then start to liase etc.

don't worry about sounding dumb etc , the main thing about this to hassle the estate agents etc to get them to pull their finger...

casperlarue

Hello osc,

Yes being a FTB'er can be confusing and frustrating, I remember it well! Just be aware that everything can, and usually will, take ages! Just to give you an idea, I've been trying to purchase a house since beginning of february, I'm cash buyer and the other property is empty....very slow and frustratimg!

Don't be put off though.... have you had any paperwork from your solicitor to sign to appoint them for your purchase? They will also want some money from you upfront to get the searches underway, around £250 for local authority, drainage and environmental searches.

If you have a mortgage agreement in principle pass this to the estate agent; the mortgage company will then carry out a valuation survey to ensure the property is worth them lending you the money.

What about surveys? Is it a new property or old and knackered? My other half is a builder and I was a building surveyor so we've never had a survey done for us.

Hope this helps you understand the process a bit more, ask away if you need any more advice.

Casper

olly300

OP the delay maybe due to the vendor not having a solicitor yet.

I would ask the estate agent if they have the vendor's solicitors details and get them off them.

xela_17

Once your offer is accpeted then you should receive a letter from the estate agent giving the details of your solicitor and the name and solicitor details of your seller. The combination of posts above tells you what you should be doing, i.e. deciding on type of survey and telling mortgage company and signing and sending back terms of business and cheque to solicitor.

osc

Thanks so much for all of your help.

Casperlaru - it is an old property but OH's parents are achitects and have surveyor friends who will do that for us which will save is a little.

Thanks for giving me the guidle line of £250 as upfront cost to solicitors think they have quoted £200 upfront and are sending documents out for us to sign.

This had all made a lot more sense in my mind....think next step is to get the mortgage agreement which i suppose i then need to give to the estate agent so surveys can be done.

Olly300 - thanks for the advice have checked and the vendor has appointed a solicitor.

Apparently the estate is being slow sending confirmation out because of "staff shortages" this worries me as i dont believe a word they say!

Thanks for all of your advice.....i may be back if all doesnt go to plan!