First time buyer help....not sure of which way round it all goes...

Punkcandykane

Hello,
Me and my partner are both first time buyers and we are aware that we need a solicitor, survey and obviously a mortgage application but not sure which way round to do everything.

We have had an offer accepted on a property and have found a solicitor- we are waiting for the solicitor to send us the 'new client' pack to register with them.

Can we go ahead and order the survey and sort the mortgage whilst waiting to sign up with the solicitor or should we wait?

The property we are buying is not in  a chain and neither are we so its a great position to to be in, we just don't want to hold it up due to not knowing which order to do things in.

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks :-)

RelievedSheff

I assume that you had as mortgage in principle agreed with a lender prior to making your offer?

You can go ahead now and start the full mortgage application. Lenders are currently taking longer to process applications so it is better to get the ball rolling here.

You may find that your mortgage company can offer to upgrade their basic valuation survey to a homebuyers or full survey. Best to speak to them with regards the surveys.

Punkcandykane

Hey,
Thanks for the reply. Yes we have a MIP from a lender. 
We have also found a surveyor we want so wasn't sure if we could just do it all at thr same time or it has to be done in certain order.

Thanks :-)

Comms69

Can do it in any order you want. Makes no difference. 

greatcrested

If speed is what matters to you,then do it all at once: instruct solicitor, apply for mortgage, instruct surveyor.

If speed is less important and saving money matters, you might want to, for example, get the mortgage approved before racking up costs on the survey (or see the survey results before racking up costs on... etc etc!)

This may help:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/buying-and-selling-a-home-for-dummies/melanie-bien/9780470994481

Other books are available - often free from your library (if open)!

[Deleted User]

Think of it like a horse race. The solicitor, the surveyor and the lender all at the starting blocks. You can set them all off running at the same time, each gathering pace as they complete their respective tasks - so that they each pass the winning line at the same time, but if one falls it wastes money spent on the others. 

Or you can set the lender off first. If they are all good with the property, you can then instruct your own independent surveyor. 

The solicitor should always go at the beginning as some are slow and rely on the sellers solicitor to provide paperwork. 

badger09

As a vendor, I expected our purchaser to instruct their solicitor within days of accepting their offer. This gave us tangible evidence that they were serious.

I suffered at the hands of a timewaster when I sold a property as Executor of close relative's estate. The property hadn't yet been advertised when I was approached by a 'friend' of the deceased. Long story short  - she hadn't formally instructed solicitor and wasted 6 weeks of my time, not to mention the added stress. I later discovered she had mental health issues & was well known at all the local EAs for this sort of behaviour.

You live and learn.

Punkcandykane

That sounds awful so sorry you had to deal with that. We have instructed a solicitor and just waiting for the pack to get the ball rolling (I am super impatient so waiting for it is driving me mad) - we are going to look at survey and mortgage as well whilst we wait to get it all on track.
Speed isn't necessarily an issue for us as we are no chain and the property is no chain but I dont want any delays on our end.....again I am super impatient so like to get everything done ASAP lol.

TA1990

I had the same question as I'm a first time buyer and just going through the process at the moment! I booked my mortgage appointment (already had DIP) while waiting for the solicitors to send me the welcome pack because it was quite a wait for the appointment (check for cancellations - I ended up with my mortgage appt. 3 weeks early than originally booked). I waited until I had the mortgage valuation done before instructing a surveyor as I didn't want to waste money on surveyors if the mortgage didn't come back in my favour. The longest wait for me was for the local search to come back - took about 6 weeks longer than the original timescale given!
Good luck - hope all goes well!

badger09

Being 7 weeks into the selling/buying process ourselves, the best advice I could give you is to curb that impatience. There are certain parts of the process over which you have control, so use that control to minimise delays. However, the majority of the process is totally outside your control or influence, and that is the stressful part.

For you, this is a life changing event and your sole focus. For the professionals & admin people involved, it is just another job, and one of many they are dealing with at the same time. There is absolutely no point constantly contacting them for updates; that just adds more delay. Unless I've been told when to expect something, I'm trying to wait 2 weeks before requesting an update from our solicitor. Its really hard to do, but seems about right until we get closer to exchange (soon I hope).

Good luck  

Tiglet2

Personally, I would wait until your solicitor has received the draft contract pack from the vendor's solicitors before spending any money.  Receiving the draft contract pack shows that the vendor has also instructed a solicitor and is serious about selling. 

If you apply for a full mortgage offer too early, you may find that the expiry date on the offer runs out before the legal work is completed and you will have to apply for an extension.  

As for a survey, why spend money surveying a property before your solicitor has received the draft contract pack and is starting work on your file.  As most conveyancing work takes around 3 months, there is plenty of time for the survey to take place.  This is for your own piece of mind - the only part of the survey which is of interest to your solicitor is the legal part, Section I (I think!) and to be honest most of the legal enquiries within a survey are generally asked anyway. 

When your solicitor receives the draft contract pack, will they ask you to pay for any searches you want.  They will then order the searches, of which the Local Authority Search can take around 4 weeks to be returned.  Searches can be ordered before the draft contract pack is received but some solicitors do not like to start work before that.