Have found the house. What do I do now?

morten44

Thanks for this forum. its really great
I have read the steps to buy and i get more or less the idea.
Now i have found a property that i have viewed today and want to go ahead.

I have had my first meeting with Halifax and they have given me the go ahead up to a value that covers me in this bying so thats not my main concern. I think they are best for me as I have been banking with them since I came to UK from Norway 3 years ago.

Can anyone guide me through the points below. Any help would be great. I am new to howto buy here and therefore it may be some basic in beetween

1. I have decided to go for a property that I saw today with Manning Estate Agency.
a) what is my first step. is that to contact the agency or Halifax
b) is it me or halifax that contact the state agency with an offer on my behalf or is that a Solisitor that does that. ( i do not have one yet)
c) Is it good to use a solicitor that the bank is using or is it just anyone?

My main confusion is what do i do, what does the bank do and what does the solicitor do. I have also heared that a broker can put it the offer. Is that the bank or solicitors?

And last.Is there any opinion on if its best to go streight to your bank or use the mortgage adviser of the same Estate Agency that you are going to buy the property from or is that not important

Any answer to all questions or some of them would be appreciated.

Hope to hear from someone as i will move forward tomorrow!!!!
Kind regards
Morten :j

cattie

I'm presuming you are in England & not Scotland, which has a different system.

First you make an offer on the house to the agent that has it on their books. If your offer is accepted they will want to know your solicitor details & mortgage details.

They will possibly push you hard to see one of their mortgage advisors to try to flog you one of their mortgages, but if you are happy with the Halifax mortgage you've been offered then stick to your guns & be firm with them.

However, if the estate agents are whole of market mortgage brokers rather than tied to certain lenders, then they may be able to get you a better deal, so maybe worth seeing one of their advisors. Failing that you can arrange to see an independent mortgage broker to see if they can get you a better deal than the Halifax one.

Solicitors costs can vary widely, so while you can use the one recommended by the estate agent, you may get a better deal by shopping around as you can sometimes save a couple of hundred pounds or more. See if you can find anybody to recommend one to you.

Really in a nutshell, bank loans you money, arranges valuation, plus the survey if you want one done. Solicitor does all the legal work & checking, and estate agents acts as go between between buyer & seller throughout the whole legal process, ensuring things are running smoothly & chasing up solicitors if necessary.

Hope this explains at least some of it.

Doozergirl

You need a whole of market, independent mortgage broker! That is where you get the best mortgage deal. Halifax can only sell you mortgages from a limited supply of products, a whole of market of market mortgage broker, well guess how much of the market they have access to?

It's like buying the cheapest fridge from John Lewis - just because you think it's cheap in John Lewis doesn't mean it isn't cheaper elsewhere! A mortgage is likely to be the largest chunk of your expenditure - you owe it to yourself to be Money Saver on this one thing, if nothing else!

The other nice thing about an independent broker is that they will do a bit of hand holding for you, which is very reassuring for a FTB. You won't get that from the Halifax!

Andrew Smith's thread on buying a house is THE thread to read.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=175653

morten44

Hi
Thanks for your comment
Yes that was usefull. Yes I am in England, Leeds
I have one question left:
If I see a property on the market for 87.500, I understand that the first thing is that I have to give them an offer?
Its me who does that and not a solicitor or bank,correct?
If they accept it, thats the time to go to the bank and a guess they will have to make a survay-valuation. If that comes back lower, can i then go back and show them the facts and lower by bid?
What i am affraid of as 1st time buyer is that I finally have managed to save for the 5% and i am afraid to pay survey through bank and solicitor and then end up loosing all the money because the survey comes back lower.
Any Idea if that often happens, or will sales price most likely match the survey price?
Heard so many stories of people loosing up to £1000 and they did not eaven get the house. Just want to make as much sure as possible before going into this.

Hope on futher reply
Thanks again
Regards
Morten

Snow_Dog

Yes, it is you that makes the offer, usually to the estate agent.

For example, property is worth £87,500 and you offer £80,000, they will then go to the owner and say they have had this offer.

This is when the haggling starts, they will probably say no, they really want the full £87,500 or maybe they will drop to £86,000, and so it goes on until you reach an agreed amount.

You will need to appoint a solicitor, as has already been pointed out, use a recommended one if possible.

As for losing money on surveys and so on, unfortuantely this is a risk with buying a property in this system.

Mortgage - as has already been said - find an all of market broker, they will get you the best deal and if they are good they will sort out all of the paperwork too.

Doozergirl

Yes, you present your offers to the EA.

One in three house sales collapse, you can't get away from that.

The larger your deposit, the less chance there is of a property being undervalued. You need to get the house for as low a price as you can! That's why people say if you aren't embarrassed by your first offer, it isn't low enough!

When you view, if you can take someone who understands houses, it might help you to know if it needs work... or just simply have a list of the components that make up a house and have a look at each thing to see if it is old and worn because these are the things that would affect a surveyor's valuation. It's normal, for FTBs especially to just see the interior presentation and not the detail.

mr.broderick

morten44 wrote: »

Thanks for this forum. its really great
I have read the steps to buy and i get more or less the idea.
Now i have found a property that i have viewed today and want to go ahead.

I have had my first meeting with Halifax and they have given me the go ahead up to a value that covers me in this bying so thats not my main concern. I think they are best for me as I have been banking with them since I came to UK from Norway 3 years ago.

Can anyone guide me through the points below. Any help would be great. I am new to howto buy here and therefore it may be some basic in beetween

1. I have decided to go for a property that I saw today with Manning Estate Agency.
a) what is my first step. is that to contact the agency or Halifax
b) is it me or halifax that contact the state agency with an offer on my behalf or is that a Solisitor that does that. ( i do not have one yet)
c) Is it good to use a solicitor that the bank is using or is it just anyone?

My main confusion is what do i do, what does the bank do and what does the solicitor do. I have also heared that a broker can put it the offer. Is that the bank or solicitors?

And last.Is there any opinion on if its best to go streight to your bank or use the mortgage adviser of the same Estate Agency that you are going to buy the property from or is that not important

Any answer to all questions or some of them would be appreciated.

Hope to hear from someone as i will move forward tomorrow!!!!
Kind regards
Morten :j

You're not the lead singer of a-ha are you?

Snow_Dog

Oh, missed your other question, if the survey does come back with problems, yes you can then haggle the price down if the problems justify this.

There are 3 types of survey:-

1. Basic valuation, the bank/building society will insist on this as it is to make sure they are not lending money on something that doesn't exist. This survey is next to useless to you personally.

2. Homebuyers survey - this is where a surveyor actually goes round the property and checks the wiring, plumbing, walls, roof, drains etc. This costs money but is almost always worthwhile unless you are a qualified builder yourself.

3. Structural survey - this is the most comprehensive survey and covers just about everything - if you think you need one of these surveys then walk away.

The homebuyers survey is what 99% of people should have done, however due to not understanding the system or not having the money spare lots of people miss it out.

Snow_Dog

mr.broderick wrote: »

You're not the lead singer of a-ha are you?

I reckon you will be hunting high and low for an answer to that one

:rotfl:

Doozergirl

Snow_Dog wrote: »

3. Structural survey - this is the most comprehensive survey and covers just about everything - if you think you need one of these surveys then walk away.

I think you're mistaking a Building Survey for a Structural Engineers Report?

There's no reason why you shouldn't have one of the former. It would usually be advisable for very old buildings, less so for others, but still helpful.

morten44

mr.broderick wrote: »

You're not the lead singer of a-ha are you?

LOL
If i where i guess that my mortgate application would go straight forward, and most likely look for somthing a little bit more expencive.