Gazumping

If your offer is accepted this should be put in writing. The important thing to bear in mind at this stage is that you’re still not home and dry. You can spend money on the valuation / survey, solicitors fees etc. and then find you’ve been gazumped and have to start all over again. Welome to Paranoia City.   […]

Exchange Contracts and Agree a Completion Date

Exchanging Contracts and Completion When all the Conveyancing (legal side) has been dealt with, your solicitor (or Licenced Conveyancer) will send you various documents to sign. This is what you’ve been waiting for. You’re finally doing the deal – which is called Exchanging Contracts, and agreeing a Completion Date, which is when the property becomes yours. […]

Buying At An Auction

Background to UK Property Auctions This is where great deals can be made. You can save up to 40% on a property by buying it at auction. Mortgage Lenders often put up their repossessed properties for sale, usually at deliberately reduced “reserve” prices to ensure they sell quickly. Local authorities and housing associations use them […]

Relocation Agents

Home Relocation Agents These are specialist companies that offer to find a property to your specifications, negotiate its sale for you and get you a mortgage. Sound good? It costs, of course, but how much and for what level of service varies tremendously. This is a growth area. If you end up using a relocation […]

Internet Property Websites

Using the Internet There are various ways you can find property through the Internet. Many Estate Agents’ now have their own websites offering properties by type and area. Other websites are independent of Estate Agents and effectively property databases offering financial products and help with moving. There are a lot of these sites. You’ll probably […]

UK Stamp Duty – Current Rates

Stamp Duty in the UK is the quaint old term for the government’s slice of the action on your home purchase. That’s right it’s a tax. It’s not just the seller who makes money when you buy a house. The Government gains too – in the form of stamp duty. It makes around £5 billion […]

If a Problem Is Revealed

Problems Revelaed by Valuations and Surveys If either the valuation or the survey reveal problems then you’ll have to slam the brakes on your homebuying process. If this happens you could use it as an opportunity to renegotiate the price with the sellers. (Any other buyers may well come up against the same problem, though […]

The Full Structural Survey

This is a much more detailed study of the property than the basic survey. It should pick up any serious problems with the building and even if it doesn’t, if any emerge after you’ve bought the house, you should have more than enough to build a detailed case against the surveyor. This means you’d be […]

The Basic Property Survey

A basic survey is carried out for your benefit to reveal any serious problems with the property. Contrary to common myth – that you’re only really covered by a full structural survey – if problems emerge which the basic survey didn’t warn you about then you have a case to claim for damages to cover […]

The Property Valuation

About the Valuation The valuation is compulsory. It is a basic check of the property so that the mortgage lender can be sure it’s worth what you’re borrowing. This means their loan is secure ie if you default on the loan they can recoup their money by selling it. While the valuation benefits the lender […]