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Aug 10, 2011
Property Buying Advice
Practical hints and tips for those about to buy a property.
Category:Property Law
have a few tips for those first time buyers (and I suppose the veterans amongst you may also benefit);
- Please try and arrange finance first as there is nothing like trying to get a mortgage in a hurry (not pleasant experience)
- View the property a few times at different times of day and weekends to see whether there are any aspects which may not be attractive such as busy traffic, parking, nearby railway lines, aircraft etc
- Do not rely on the lenders survey as this is not for your benefit as the lender simply needs to be satisfied that the property is worthwhile security for the money they are about to advance.
- Get your own survey as little money spent now could save you thousands later in rectifying major issues later on and will give you alot of stress.
- Don't get rushed into making an offer as this is a buyers marke and may remain so for some time
- Avoid allowing the estate agent or mortgage broker to control the transaction or your choice of solicitor, its not uncommon for the estate agent to cajole you into selecting his so called panel solicitors; what you are would not be aware is that a referral fee would be made out of your business.
- The Estate Agent is not your friend (no matter how friendly he or she is), he has a legal relationship in contract with the seller and not you but he owes you a duty of care for misrepresenting or misdescribing a property.
- By all means shop around for a solicitor of your choice, remember while budget is important it should not be your only consideration and again a good choice here may be more enlightening than you thought, for most it is your largest purchase any being frugal here is not in your best interests.
- A very cheap conveyancing quote may be misleading, and remember there is always a reason ( be it misleading or otherwise ) that your quote is very cheap. Be sure who in the firm is going to be carrying out the work, in large or medium firms caseworkers, office executives and para-legals will more often be in charge of your file and simply there may be a number of staff who are supervised by a few solicitors.
- Be aware that Solicitors recently have faced a lot of negligence claims so don't become a claim statistic by going for the cheapest factory conveyancing service for £199.
- All solicitors are insured incase they are negligent in providing services, and since this insurance as dramatically increased in 2009, and is likely to stay high; you should be weary of very cheap quotes as above.
- The process is somewhat subject to postal speed and you should not forget that the other person has also got to communicate to his solicitor and therefore there are 4 parties as minimum (more if its leasehold) are contacting each other.
- You are in the best position as first time buyer and finding a chain free purchase would be ideal which means that the person selling has nothing to buy with the proceeds of the sale and vice versa.
- Ask questions about anything you don't understand but be reasonable remember your solicitor is not teaching you how to do his job.
- Read your terms of business letter carefully and ask questions if necessary.
- Be careful of incentives to buy particularly flats as the price may be inflated and do your research.
- Until contracts are exchanged you are not legally obliged to buy, so you could walk away without any penalty or fault until this.
- If you are purchasing jointly but either putting an equal amounts of deposit or unequal amounts, you might for the avoidance of doubt agree this on the transfer deed to avoid disputes should the relationship between you breakdown*.
- Large blocks of flats and appartments do also carry a service charge which is an added cost and should be factored in and remember there can be variations to the charge.
- You should ask your solicitor about the risks in residential leaseholds particularly in related to service charges.
- SDLT limit for first time buyers is raised to £250,000.00 but the time for this relief is limited and you should check with HMRC.
Possession from £320.00 + fees
We help you to deal with possession and rent arrears. There is a complex procedure that needs to be followed correctly, contact us for details.
Conveyancing Fixed Fee
Guaranteed fixed fees for conveyancing services when buying property to live in or as an investment (excluding disbursements).
