They say buying a property can be one of the most stressful things you’ll ever do. It doesn’t have to be; it’s all about how ready you are at every level in the process.
We’ve previously explained the process of obtaining a mortgage, the different options available, and the first initial steps in your journey to home ownership. I hope our last article gave you an insight into what the solicitors do and the process they follow to prepare us to be in a position to exchange.
So once all the enquires are dealt with and your solicitors are happy with all the paperwork they will be in a position to exchange. What does this mean? Well this is the point where you secure your purchase legally. You will be asked to normally lodge 10% of the property value with your solicitors. Until an exchange of contract takes place there is no legal obligation for you to purchase a property. Anyone can pull out of the transaction at anytime. However as you have now lodged your 10%, if you were to pull out of the transaction after exchange you would lose this amount. Although at this point the seller hasn’t put down any physical cash, should they pull out after an exchange, you would sue them for the same deposit amount.
It’s also at this point your solicitors will inform your lenders we are about to exchange and will call for the mortgages monies to come in. Most lenders need 5 working days between exchange and completion to make sure they have enough time to get the monies across to the solicitors. A completion date has to be agreed by both the purchaser and sellers.
In some cases you are able to exchange and complete on the same day, this usually happens when the property is vacant or there is no onward move for the sellers to make. Normally you have two different dates between, for example you wouldn’t commit to book removal vans until you know the transaction is defiantly happening. If you were moving abroad you wouldn’t book flight tickets until you know everything is 100%. As mentioned earlier, anyone can still pull out after contracts have been exchanged, but if that were to happen you know you would be compensated by way of the deposit money.
On the day of completion your lender will send the mortgage monies to your solicitors. Sometimes they may send it the previous day. Once your solicitors receive this, they will forward this to the vendor’s solicitors along with any outstanding balance they may be. Once this is received by them they will inform all parties that we have COMPLETED!
Hooray, you are now either the new owner of the property or your have just SOLD. Instructions are given to us by either the vendor or their solicitors to release keys. Once we have this we will inform the buyer to come to our office and to collect the keys. Although this is not necessary, some people choose to show there appreciation by way of a small gift, the team really do appreciate this in recognition of their hard work.
You can always pop into our office or call us to arrange a valuation where we can gladly explain the process to you on a one to one basis, or go through any other questions you may have. Do give us a call on 020 8426 0631 or email us at harrow@hiltonandfox.com
