What happens after....

[babyt2020]

The memorandum of sams is sent to your solicitor? Our position is we have accepted an offer on my partners house and the buyer has their mortgage secured, the house is mortgage feee so once completed we are cash buyers. Having never bought a house before I'm clueless! We've offered on a house and it's been accepted, the estate agents were buying through have sent the above docs to our solicitors 3 weeks ago. Is the next step for us to arrange a survey and do we do this through our solicitors? We're currently living in my rented flat and are hoping it takes a while to go through anyway as we're due our 2nd baby in July and hoping to stay in our flat til around September to be near my family for help as we also have a10 month old!

You have instructed your solicitors, who now need to start the searches. At the same time you get a survey done on the house you are buying.

Have you discussed general timescales with your vendors? They may not be happy to leave it until September.

Are you treating the sale if your DP’s house as a separate transaction, or will the money from that go directly into the purchase of the house you are buying?

When you buy this is roughly the order:
You instruct solicitors.
They will conduct identity and anti money laundering checks on you.
The vendor sends the Property Information Form and the Fixtures and Fittings form through.
Your solicitor commissions the searches, and also looks at the title deeds.
You commission a survey (unless you decide not to, for some reason)
Then your solicitor follows up with enquiries: any questions you have from the forms or the survey. The vendors will be asked for relevant documents, anything from boiler service history to Building Regs Certificates.

You might want to adjust the price if the survey reveals something unexpected that requires urgent treatment, or ask the vendors to get it seen to (damp, for example).

All this goes in for a while, until everyone is satisfied, and then you move to exchange contracts. To be ready to do this you will need to have lodged your deposit (usually 10% of purchase price), with the solicitor and have the cash from the other house ready to pay the balance, OR exchange, and then complete, on the same day as your DP’s house and the money just transfers straight up the chain.

The completion date is set as part of the exchange. On completion the balance of the full purchase price transfers and you get your keys!

Anyone can pull out until exchange. Exchange is the exchange of signed contracts, legally binding all parties to complete.

Yes you arrange the survey. Then when that comes back forward it to your solicitor and ask them to put to the seller any questions you may have, or if thr survey suggests specialist reports (like drains or damp). Meanwhile you solicitor will have ordered searches and the sellers solicitor will be sending yours documentation about guarantees etc. Your solicitor will have queries arising from the searches and survey, a bit of back and forth. Meanwhile the sale of your partners property will be doing the same. Once all that is sorted, and you have signed contracts (we'll in advance of actual exchange), your solicitors, along with your buyers/sellers solicitors (and anyone else in the chain) will agree dates. Money moves bottom up but if you are buying a more expensive property you will have to add to it to get the 10% needed. You exchange and are now legally committed to buying. Start packing!
As you are in rental you can be top of the chain in terms of your partner's sale. But your seller may have different time requirements so it would be wise to discuss this with your solicitor.