FTB - Offer accepted - what next?!

ryanm8655

Hi all,

After assuming my second and final offer was going to be rejected I was surprised to have a call after a few days saying it had been accepted so I have been caught a little off guard and am struggling to process everything at the moment!

What's next? What do I need to do immediately?

I've emailed my offer in writing and am in the process of pulling together the various documents they want to see for due diligence on the offer (proof of funds/passport etc.).

I've been looking at quotes for conveyancing, should I get this started right away? Any advice for finding one? Googling isn't hugely helpful as loads come up!

I have the mortgage in principle but need to apply for the actual mortgage, however I think the vendors both need to find a place, so assume it's better to wait for a bit so that the offer doesn't expire.

I'll get a survey too but probably later in the process too (before mortgage application)?

Is there anything else I need to do in the immediate term? Anything I need from them et.? Do I need to live a whiter than white lifestyle to boost the mortgage application and reduce the questioning of my spending habits?

Thanks,
Ryan

Myci85

I would recommend a good local solicitor and not an online firm. Ask around for recommendations, or what I did was shall a few local ones that had good reviews for a quote, and out of only 2 that bothered to reply, I picked the one who responded fastest and gave a better quote. I figured their responsiveness to my initial contact was a good sign, and they didn't let us down. 
Personal preference whether you get everything moving immediately or wait until the chain is complete. We chose to instruct solicitor so we could pass their details to the estate agent but ask them to hold off on starting any chargeable work until chain was formed. We started the mortgage application fairly early, but this was because we weren't a straight forward case and knew it would take longer. 

ryanm8655

Myci85 said:

I would recommend a good local solicitor and not an online firm. Ask around for recommendations, or what I did was shall a few local ones that had good reviews for a quote, and out of only 2 that bothered to reply, I picked the one who responded fastest and gave a better quote. I figured their responsiveness to my initial contact was a good sign, and they didn't let us down. 
Personal preference whether you get everything moving immediately or wait until the chain is complete. We chose to instruct solicitor so we could pass their details to the estate agent but ask them to hold off on starting any chargeable work until chain was formed. We started the mortgage application fairly early, but this was because we weren't a straight forward case and knew it would take longer. 

Thanks for the reply - that's really helpful.

I've contacted a few local solicitors for a quote, one is a recommendation so if they aren't ridiculously expensive I'll probably go with them. Good call on asking to hold off on chargeable work.

I've emailed the agent to ask for their plans but last time I checked they both need to find somewhere. If that is still the case I'll hold off on the mortgage application.

firsttimebuyer29rp

I can’t help properly as our situations are different (we’re FTB and hopefully very close to completion!)

We had an offer accepted but couldn’t apply for the mortgage until about 2 weeks later. 

However in the meantime we found a conveyancing company and just got setup with them (they were recommended to us through our broker and are an online one - will come back to that). It meant that we could get started as far as forms go etc.  

We then got the mortgage offer etc and then told our conveyancers to get cracking. 

We got our mortgage offer on 5th March and there’s a possibility (albeit small!) of us completing before EOM. 

If you’re not up against the clock, I would probably spend some time fishing out conveyancers and then thinking about your mortgage application. A lot of lenders have 6 month expiry dates on their offers to you so just bear that in mind depending on how long you expect it all to take. 

Definitely make sure you do your research on the conveyancers though. A bad one can drag things on, get things wrong and just make the whole experience horrible. 

We’re using a company called O’Neills Practice. I wasn’t keen from reading reviews, but I had no knowledge of the whole process and was happy for referrals. They’ve been absolutely brilliant. Not always the most responsive, however I know things are getting done because bar one outstanding enquiry, we’re ready to complete when the rest of the chain are. 

Really wish you the best of luck with the purchase! 

ryanm8655

firsttimebuyer29rp said:

I can’t help properly as our situations are different (we’re FTB and hopefully very close to completion!)

We had an offer accepted but couldn’t apply for the mortgage until about 2 weeks later. 

However in the meantime we found a conveyancing company and just got setup with them (they were recommended to us through our broker and are an online one - will come back to that). It meant that we could get started as far as forms go etc.  

We then got the mortgage offer etc and then told our conveyancers to get cracking. 

We got our mortgage offer on 5th March and there’s a possibility (albeit small!) of us completing before EOM. 

If you’re not up against the clock, I would probably spend some time fishing out conveyancers and then thinking about your mortgage application. A lot of lenders have 6 month expiry dates on their offers to you so just bear that in mind depending on how long you expect it all to take. 

Definitely make sure you do your research on the conveyancers though. A bad one can drag things on, get things wrong and just make the whole experience horrible. 

We’re using a company called O’Neills Practice. I wasn’t keen from reading reviews, but I had no knowledge of the whole process and was happy for referrals. They’ve been absolutely brilliant. Not always the most responsive, however I know things are getting done because bar one outstanding enquiry, we’re ready to complete when the rest of the chain are. 

Really wish you the best of luck with the purchase! 

Thanks - that’s really helpful - how long has it taken?

I’m on holiday for a couple of weeks from next week so will get the conveyancer sorted this week and then everything else can be dealt with when I’m back.

Sent over the documents the estate agent needs last night.

Albermarle

Process of buying a house: timeline | MoneySavingExpert

ryanm8655

Albermarle said:

Process of buying a house: timeline | MoneySavingExpert

Thanks - have had a look through this previously. 

Mostly in order but shorter term list is:

1) send offer in writing to confirm
2) send documents requested by EA
3) Find out vendors plans re: move (not yet found properties so do they intend to wait until they have found somewhere).
4) Get acceptance in writing
5) Confirm solicitor and get them appointed and the ball rolling
…

knightstyle

Two things I would add.  Do not exchange and complete on the same day, have a few days between.   Do not complete on a Friday as this is the solicitors and moving firms busiest days, plus if there is a delay you are in limbo all weekend.

horsewithnoname

knightstyle said:

Two things I would add.  Do not exchange and complete on the same day, have a few days between.   Do not complete on a Friday as this is the solicitors and moving firms busiest days, plus if there is a delay you are in limbo all weekend 

This is very sound advice👍

Myci85

knightstyle said:

Two things I would add.  Do not exchange and complete on the same day, have a few days between.   Do not complete on a Friday as this is the solicitors and moving firms busiest days, plus if there is a delay you are in limbo all weekend.

As a FTB, I'd go further and recommend not necessarily moving in on completion day if you've no deadline to be out of current home. From what you've said it sounds like your vendors are needing to complete on 2 properties themselves (separating couple?) and each of their purchases may have a chain. We had a very simple chain of us, our vendors and them buying a vacant property, but even still we didn't collect keys until 3pm so I was very glad we weren't then needing to rush to get moved in. I don't anticipate having that luxury of time again when moving, so made the most of it as a FTB! 

poseidon1

ryanm8655 said:

Hi all,

After assuming my second and final offer was going to be rejected I was surprised to have a call after a few days saying it had been accepted so I have been caught a little off guard and am struggling to process everything at the moment!

What's next? What do I need to do immediately?

I've emailed my offer in writing and am in the process of pulling together the various documents they want to see for due diligence on the offer (proof of funds/passport etc.).

I've been looking at quotes for conveyancing, should I get this started right away? Any advice for finding one? Googling isn't hugely helpful as loads come up!

I have the mortgage in principle but need to apply for the actual mortgage, however I think the vendors both need to find a place, so assume it's better to wait for a bit so that the offer doesn't expire.

I'll get a survey too but probably later in the process too (before mortgage application)?

Is there anything else I need to do in the immediate term? Anything I need from them et.? Do I need to live a whiter than white lifestyle to boost the mortgage application and reduce the questioning of my spending habits?

Thanks,
Ryan

Not to bring down your sense of elation too much, but in England there are a significant number of factors which could cause your purchase to ' fall out of bed' with fees incurred lost as a result.
Therefore consider insurance per the link below -

https://www.rhinohomeprotect.com/home-buyers-insurance/home-buyers-protection-insurance/

Also worth reviewing, the MSE thread below where the insurance was mentioned. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81344747#Comment_81344747