Buyers Frequently Asked Questions

If you are borrowing money to fund your purchase, you need to take professional advice and speak to a mortgage advisor before you even start looking for a home. We can recommend some excellent independent mortgage brokers for you to talk to! Once you have discovered how much you can afford to spend, you can view homes that fall within your budget and find one best suited to your requirements.

We will negotiate with the Vendors (sellers) of the property, and when everyone agrees on a final price, the property becomes Sale Agreed and the conveyance process can start.

Conveyancing involves legally transferring home ownership from the vendor (seller) to the buyer. It starts when your offer on a house is accepted and finishes when you receive the keys and can move in.

A professional Conveyancer or Solicitor will undertake all of the legal work for you. We can normally recommend good local firms for you to talk to, if you are uncertain who to use. Shop around and get quotes from two or three firms, and balance the price they are quoting with the level of service they can offer you.

Once you have formally instructed your conveyancer, Saunders and Lingard will write to them and confirm the details of the purchase you have agreed to make, and inform them of the contact details of the conveyancers acting on behalf of the vendors.

They will request a draft contract from the vendors’ conveyancers, then they will organise local searches, and raise enquiries regarding the property on your behalf.

Once you have confirmed you’ve had an offer accepted on a property, your mortgage company will arrange for a Mortgage Valuation Survey on the property you are buying to ensure the price you have agreed is fair for the property and that the company is happy to lend the funds you require.

It is typical for a deposit to be 10% of the purchase price, so for example if you are buying a property worth £200,000 the deposit you will need to have available would be £20,000. The deposit will be requested towards the end of the legal process when you conveyancer is happy with information from the searches and the answers to enquiries, and has asked you to sign contracts.

Your Conveyancer will ask you to agree to an Exchange of Contracts, and your deposit funds will need to be available. Make sure you have a chat with them and transfer your deposit funds to them ready for exchange!

You will also be asked to agree a final Completion date that suits both you and the vendors, and on that date your remaining funds will be transferred across from your mortgage lender or from your bank account if you are using cash to fund the purchase. Completion date would normally happen within a week of you having exchanged contracts.

Once your completion monies have transferred successfully across, and we have been given permission by the vendor’s conveyancers to release the keys, Saunders & Lingard will come to meet you with the keys at your new home, and you can start moving in!