First Time Buyer - What Happens Now?

nicjane113

I am looking to buy a house in Scotland and got an agreement in principal with Santander on 05/12/13. The application was done on 07/12/13 and I supplied the supporting documents at the same time which will be sent with the application.
A verbal offer has been accepted by the estate agents subject to mortgage and my solicitor is being contacted today to put in the formal offer now that I have an AIP.
Assuming that I don't get rejected following the submission of my application, what happens now and how long is it likely to take for everything to happen?
I have a tenancy agreement on my current home until 31/01/14 so will have a financial commitment up until then.

chib

Hi nicjane113,

I'm going through my first house purchase, last year when using the LIFT scheme and an FCA we had a number of different problems mainly due to my partners debt and the FCA thinking it was worth trying anyways. This time, I've done it all alone without any support from an FCA and feel much more in control and aware what is going on - I'm also in Scotland.

Following the verbal offer of acceptance, you can go to the bank and request a mortgage offer. If the home report is over six months old, they'll want that refreshed - the estate agents should be aware of this and may already have something arranged.

You can also go to a solicitor (I'm using Conveyancing Direct in Glasgow, cheap and a lot of people in work have used them with good feedback) and have them issue a written offer - the sellers solicitor will confirm this also in written format.

All being well, the bank will issue a mortgage offer for the price of the house minus your deposit (This happened for me today!) this goes directly to your solicitor whom will take care of the missives.

The missives I don't know much about other than I can legally pull out anytime prior to finalising these - I believe this is the final stage of the legal sale.

Then a week before the entry date (I assume this was part of the verbal offer, it will be part of the written) you'll pay your deposit and legal fees to the solicitor who will collate with funds from the bank to pay the seller... or their solicitor - I'm not sure.

Hope this helps, I'm by no means a professional but I think I'm getting it.

Regards,
Chib.