22 And Desperate For Some Advice !!

freestyler

Hi again

Cheers for the advice..I'm planning to go to the local CAB and appoint an independent solicitor..

Btw can someone give me an idea what this survey business is all about ? Is it just a matter of checking the property is fit for occupation ? And what is 'searches' ?

Cheers
Bob

Bungarm2001

Hi there...a survey is literally just that...your mortgage lender will appoint their own surveyor to check that the building is worth the money you (they!) are paying. They will check the structure, windows and roof for dampness, woodworm etc and general state of the building.

There is something to be said for getting your own survey on top of this, but to be honest, in my opinion, I don't think it is necessary unless its maybe a very old property or listed perhaps. A full structural survey can cost anything up to £1500 depending on the size of the property. IF you were paying cash outright though, I WOULD recommend.

The searches are really just a precaution that there is nothing known that will affect the building and ground it stands on, like for instance a 5 lane motorway being built across your back lawn in the next 5 years!

The search will also show up any complaints to the council involving the property; and land issues like old mine workings underneath the property; things like that.

They are useful. On one property that I own, the search turned up an application to build a lorry park opposite. Thankfully, due to most if not all the people in the street putting in objections, it was turned down.

These should cost you (via the solicitor) about £150 roughly. Your solicitor will deal with all that stuff so no worries there.

As others have said on here, try and get your mortgage approved in principle..it gives you miles more bargaining power. Technically, you are a first time buyer, and they are rarer than hens teeth nowadays and every EA knows this!

Also, as others have advised, try not to get sucked in to using the EA solicitor. For a start, they will be dearer as they will pay the EA commission and pass it on to you. Try your local paper, or word of mouth...you can't beat that sometimes. ALWAYS check what he/she will charge before you sign up/spend anything. All solicitors (and/or conveyancers) who are any good will spend as much time as you need to explain procedures. If they don't, then don't use them.

Let us know how you get on..!

PS EA's are most assuredly not your friend once you have decided to buy, because they work for and are paid by the vendor for selling the property. The ONLY time in my experience that they are useful as the sale progresses (hopefully) is to chivvy along the vendors if they are dragging their feet over something and arranging key collection(s) on completion day.

freestyler

Oh i see, thanks a lot for taking the time to explain all this..

Hopefully I'll be able to find a good solicitor by the end of this week coz my EA has already rung up saying that the property i was interested in was being viewed quite a lot in the last few days [or maybe just putting pressure on me the !!!!!!!s haha].

Cheers !
Bob

cam101

You don't need to instruct a solicitor until after you have had an offer accepted on a house (or at least we didn't). Our offer was accepted Sunday, solicitor arranged Tuesday. It literally takes a phone call to say "act on my behalf"- 5 minutes work! The most important thing is to have the mortgage AIP.

Thanks to other posters for confirming that the estate agent is not the buyer's friend. I thought this, but worried I was just being cynical!!

Good luck, and keep posting

Bungarm2001

freestyler wrote: »

my EA has already rung up saying that the property i was interested in was being viewed quite a lot in the last few days [or maybe just putting pressure on me the !!!!!!!s haha].

Cheers !
Bob

Typical EA tactic...unfortunately, it COULD be true but don't be fooled. Like I said, you are a FTB and he won't want to see you go off to a rival

Lavendyr

Typical sales tactic in general in fact - don't be put off by it. You are chain-free and that is a definite plus point.

Errata

CAB may be able to give you a list of solicitors who do conveyancing but they won't be able to recommend one.

alant1000

hi

you'll need

1. a mortgage offer in principle before alot of people will accept an offer (especially in a chain, but this is not always the case)
2. A solicitor - your EA might be able to get a reliable one, but they often work on comission for recommending so shop around - just as an option (though not necessarily recommended due to some negativity) you could try on online conveyancer (solicitor). They are miles cheaper, sometimes slower, but for every horror story there will be the silent majority who find them acceptable. (type conveyancing into google, but read the sites carefully)
3. Sounds obvious but you'll need the stamp duty money to hand (payable on completion).
4. Upfront costs will include mortgage valuation fee, usually around £300, probably a £350 or so sub for the search fees to you solicitor upon initial instruction, and mortgage arrangement fee (between £350-£999 usually) although many bundle this into the mortgage for you.

The solicitor and estate agent will guide you through the rest.

some say 10% below is an acceptable first offer, but it depends on how in demand places are round your way, i only got £1150 off my £180k flat.

Its not as scary as you think as long as you have a switched on solicitor.

And at 22 you are doing OK - the average first time buyer is 36!!

freestyler

Cheers for the replies again !

alant 1000 : I'm only 22, but I'm kinda helping my dad buy a house for him, not me, but being old I've taken the responsiblity to help him out.So I dont think I'd consider myself a FTB ..but hopefully I'd reward from the experience I get going through all this hassle

From the last few replies it seems that I should only appoint a solicitor only after making an offer to the EA and getting it accepted by the seller..a tad confused now..and we only obtained some free mortgage advice ; the advisor said we'd be able to manage things with a decent mortgage..so u all reckon the first thing to do now is get a proper mortgage offer agreed in principle with a bank/building society ?

Oh and btw why do EA's prefer FTB's over experienced sellers/buyers as some1 has mentioned before ?

freestyler

Oh and just to update you, I made a 153k offer on a 160k house but was rejected ..Gonna raise it by another 2k and see what they say