The House Buying Process

The house buying process in the UK is actually quite drawn out and complicated - hence the oft quoted statistic of moving house being one of the most stressful times in a person's life. The actual process involves dealing with a variety of organisations and people, including: estate agents, solicitors, banks/building societies and the people who are actually selling the house. The process usually takes the following form:

1. Decide how much you have to spend. This is calculated by how much equity you have in your current property (obviously none if you are a first time buyer), and the amount of savings you have to put forward towards a deposit. You then need to see how much salary you earn, in order to get a mortgage. Banks normally give up to 4 times the income of a household. So, for example, if you have a 50k deposit (made up from savings, equity or help from parents) and earn 30k a year you can afford a £170k house.

2. The next stage is to arrange for your mortgage offer in principle. This is when the lender does a quick assessment of you (a credit check) and makes an in principle agreement to lend you x amount.

2. Once you've decided your budget, it's time to think about where you want to live, and what sort of house you want. Do want a quiet area, or the busy city life? House or flat? Garden or not?

3. Once you know the sort of house you want, have a look on www.rightmove.co.uk, which is the premier property website in the UK. Most properties that are for sale in the UK are listed on the site. Once you've found one that fits your requirements, call the related estate agents and arrange a viewing.

4. If you like the look of the house you've seen, then contact the estate agents and make an offer. It’s up to you if you offer the asking price; it depends how much you want the house. If you really want the house, then offer the asking price. If you're really stretching your budget, then offer a few thousand below the asking price, and see how the sellers respond. Be prepared to negotiate.

5. If you're lucky to have your offer accepted, you can move on the next stage, which is paying the fee to the estate agents to secure the property, and have it taken off the market.

6. Buyers should then go to their chosen lender to arrange the mortgage. Various forms must be filled out, and arrangements made to set up a direct debit to be set up to withdraw the mortgage amount from your bank account every month. The lender will charge you to do a valuation of the property to ensure that they would be able to recoup their money if they were forced to repossess and sell the property.

7. You should appoint a solicitor at this stage, who will carry out what is called conveyancing. These are all the legal duties that need to bee carried out in order for the house purchase to go through. These duties include: drawing up the contract that will be exchanged with the seller; making sure there are no planning permission or local development issues regarding the property and register the owner details of the property with the Land Registry.

9. Home insurance will need to be arranged for the home purchase to go through.

8. Once all the legal issue have been dealt with, contracts are exchanged.

9. The final stage of the process is called completion. This is where the funds are transferred from the buyer to the seller, and you legally own the house. You would then take possession of the keys and move in. Hooray!

The process from start to finish normally takes about 12 weeks, which is twice as long as in Europe. If you are selling your house as well as purchasing, it's normally considered good advice to sell your house first, which saves a lot of hassle.

If you can't wait 12 weeks and need to sell quicker, and also want to avoid the chance of your sale falling through, contact Quick Move Now. As a cash buyer of properties, using our own cash, we could buy your house with 7 days. We give guaranteed offers that mean your sale is guaranteed avoiding the pain of a chain break or of a buyer pulling out at the last minute. Call us today on 0800 068 3366.