House Purchase - What order do you do things?

[pinkpepperclove]

Curious on what order everyone has done things when it comes to purchasing their homes? We were stung before being super proactive with mortgage applications and surveys and it transpired the sellers hadn't lifted a finger. Months later with the mortgage about to run out we had to withdraw (at our expense)

Years down the line we are now purchasing another home and would love to know what signals you wait on from the sellers before you start hitting go on solicitors and mortgages.

I think general consensus is to wait until the chain is complete before getting things which are time limited - like searches and formal mortgage offers.
I'm not sure how long searches are valid for - but mortgage offers seem to be 3-6 months

But you can get a mortgage agreement in principle beforehand - which helps show how you will pay for the house, and you can instruct a solicitor/conveyancer whenever. M
There's nothing to stop the fixtures and fittings and property information forms being completed before the chain is complete. And organising paperwork for your sale, like boiler service certificates etc.

But ultimately you can only go as fast as the slowest part of the chain

@Cocoaone

I think general consensus is to wait until the chain is complete before getting things which are time limited - like searches and formal mortgage offers. I'm not sure how long searches are valid for - but mortgage offers seem to be 3-6 months

But you can get a mortgage agreement in principle beforehand - which helps show how you will pay for the house, and you can instruct a solicitor/conveyancer whenever. M
There's nothing to stop the fixtures and fittings and property information forms being completed before the chain is complete. And organising paperwork for your sale, like boiler service certificates etc.

But ultimately you can only go as fast as the slowest part of the chain

They are chain free , as are we.

AIP all done.

As @Cocoaone says, it's usual not to do anything like searches / full mortgage until the chain is fully complete.

If you haven't got solicitors lined up, then do so - you can fill in a lot of paperwork in advance. I'm selling my place at the moment and already filled in most of the solicitor paperwork ready before it's even sold and can do verification checks etc. It also shows that you are a serious buyer who isn't dawdling about.

Sorry just seen your update! Sounds like chain is complete then you're ready to go.

Has memorandum of sale been issued?

You make sure all your paperwork is in order at the get go.

The last house we bought was very nearly held up by a missing tree preservation order. I was slightly irritated that I had to make just one call to the local council to get a digital copy when our otherwise excellent but very expensive solicitors were depending on dealing with the matter in writing.

Do people usually view houses first or make offers before theyve had a mortgage offer then, as this is a question I also had been wondering lately

@Branleuse

Do people usually view houses first or make offers before theyve had a mortgage offer then, as this is a question I also had been wondering lately

Normally would get a Decision in Principle for viewings/offers. Then full mortgage offer once had an offer accepted to buy somewhere.

Normally put your property on the mortgage and look for mortgage in principle at the same time. Then when you have a proseedable offer you start viewing properties.

I think I would always get a survey done sooner rather than later, despite the expense. I would not want to wait weeks for a chain to complete before arranging a survey which may then uncover something that means you no longer want to buy. I would check first whether the vendors were open to negotiating on price if the survey did throw up something serious too, as you may wish to renegotiate price but they may not.

@Branleuse

Do people usually view houses first or make offers before theyve had a mortgage offer then, as this is a question I also had been wondering lately

You can't get a mortgage offer until you've identified a specific property you wish to buy.

The most you can do is get an agreement in principle, which gives you a rough idea of what a bank might lend you.

In the current market you cannot even get a viewing unless you either have a mortgage in principle or an offer on your own house.

Once offers made and accepted:

EA issues Memorandum of Sale which includes price and any agreement or conditions. Such as the house will be taken off the market for 10 days by which time you need to have commissioned a solicitor and a survey, for example.

Instruct Solicitor. (All parties)
Commission survey. (Buyers)
Mortgage co valuation
Commission searches via solicitor (they will charge a deposit upfront to pay for searches)
Fill in PIF and F&F form. (Vendors)
Assemble all paperwork as appropriate, e.g FENSA certificate / boiler service record / building control cert / damp course guarantee etc etc (vendors)
Read survey / PIF etc, issue queries and enquiries via solicitor (buyers)
Answer queries (vendors)
Complete and sign contract docs
Lodge deposit as needed with solicitors (buyers)
Exchange contracts
Arrange buildings insurance to start day of completion (buyers)
Arrange removal co.
Complete and move out / in.

We couldn't get a viewing without AIP, offer on our own property and an in principle offer on the property in question. We agreed the price based on photos and viewed it the following week. My brother is a valuation surveyor and he did some groundwork to make sure we weren't paying over the odds. Fortunately we fell in love with the house.

The chain was short and complete in a couple of weeks. Solicitors were the first people we engaged, followed by the mortgage broker and the building surveyor. I would suggest finding out if anyone in the chain has an equity release mortgage, it added 2 months to the process and our mortgage offer nearly expired. Our conveyancer refuses to take on clients that have one and our broker no longer recommends them. Total headache.