Top Tips on Moving Home

Preparing to sell

When you are selling a property you will find that we will request a considerable amount of information from you much of which will be passed to the purchasers solicitors. Therefore when you commence the marketing of the property or if possible earlier it is sensible to gather together the following information:

• If the property is in mortgage we will need details about your lender and your mortgage account number. If it is not mortgaged we will need details as to the whereabouts of your title deeds.
• Make sure that you have all the building regulation approvals, planning permissions and guarantees relating to any works which you may have carried out on the property. You may also have papers concerning the property sent to you when you purchased and these can often be of assistance in dealing with enquiries raised by purchasers solicitors.

To Survey, or Not to Survey?

It is important to remember that as a general rule (unless you are purchasing a new property) there are no guarantees as to the quality or condition of a building. Therefore you should always consider having a survey carried out as opposed to just a valuation which is normally arranged by your lender (if you are purchasing with a mortgage).

Mortgage valuations are primarily for the benefit of the lender to ensure that the property is adequate security for the loan. Simply because the lender is proposing to make you a mortgage offer you should not assume that the property is free from defect.

It is advisable for you to arrange for the survey to be carried out as soon as possible to avoid any delays later on.

Life Assurance

Once contracts have been exchanged you will be bound to the transaction. As a result if you are purchasing a property it is highly advisable to have in place suitable life assurance and to make sure that it is on risk from exchange of contracts.

New Properties

If you are purchasing a new property "off plan":

• Make sure that you see and have a copy of the specification to which the property will be built.
• Ensure that the developer will be offering a suitable guarantee such as with the N.H.B.C.
• Regularly visit the site to check the progress of construction.
• Ensure that prior to completion you have the opportunity of inspecting the property to produce a list of items that need attention by the builders (a snagging list) and discuss it with them. Make sure that you check to see that all the services are connected and working satisfactorily. You may decide to appoint a surveyor to assist you with these tasks.

How Long Will the Transaction Take?

Until contracts are exchanged no one will be bound to the transaction. The speed at which your sale or purchase can be completed will be dependent on many factors such as the extent of the chain but to avoid unnecessary delays preparation is essential. Therefore it is advisable to let us have details of your proposed transaction be it a sale, purchase or both as early as possible. We can then advise you as to what steps could be taken to ensure that the legal draft documentation can be submitted as soon as possible once a transaction has been negotiated.

Mortgages

Many people do need a mortgage to enable them to purchase a property. Even if you do not it is quite likely that someone in the chain will need one. Lenders usually give an initial agreement in principle which is subject to survey and references. They will subsequently issue a formal written mortgage offer setting out the terms upon which they are prepared to lend. At that time or once the borrower has signed the mortgage acceptance (depending on the mortgage company chosen) formal written mortgage instructions will be sent to us.

If you are purchasing it is essential that the formal written mortgage offer is issued by the relevant institution to us prior to exchange of contracts. This is so that prior to your being committed to the purchase we can ensure with you that all the conditions imposed by the lender can be satisfied within the appropriate time limits. The lender will only advance the mortgage loan to us once the company is satisfied that all their conditions have been met.

Deposits

At exchange of contracts a deposit will have to be paid. This is a sum usually equivalent to 10 percent of the purchase price. Sometimes we can negotiate a lesser deposit on your behalf. If you have a related sale it is often possible to utilise the deposit paid by your purchasers on exchange towards the deposit on your purchase. If you do not have the cash funds available to pay a deposit it is advisable to mention this to us at an early stage so that we can see how the issue can be overcome.

Buildings Insurance

If you are arranging the buildings insurance yourself (as opposed to through your lender) it is important to make the appropriate arrangements early so that the insurance is ready to be placed upon risk from exchange of contracts. We recommend that you make appropriate enquiries at an early stage with insurers to make certain that you will be able to arrange the appropriate cover.

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