At the end of Part 2, our potential first time buyer was ready to speak a Solicitor about the legal process.

Information that you need to have ready before you contact your Solicitor;

1. Full name(s) of purchaser
2. Full property address
3. Property tenure (freehold or leasehold)
4. Mortgage Lender name (an indication will suffice)
5. Agreed price
6. Any conditions of sale e.g. timescale, special items such as white goods
7. Desired timescale

Your Conveyancing Solicitor may ask further questions but the above is usually sufficient to provide a telephone quote &/or quote via email or post.

The quote will contain two distinct groupings;

1. Fees – involve a profit element due to the acting Solicitor
2. Disbursements – service or products obtained on your behalf at cost price

Once you have accepted the quote, you will need to inform the relevant Estate Agent of the Solicitor acting. Once the Estate Agent has all the detailed they require from all parties, they will issue the sales memorandum which begins the process.

The main next steps are;

1. File opening & forwarding of paperwork
2. Return of paperwork, ID & search fees by you
3. Ordering of searches once the Contract documentation is received
4. Title check once the searches are received
5. Reporting to you & raising legal enquiries with the vendor’s Solicitor
6. Receipt of mortgage offer, answers to enquiries & 10% of purchase price for the deposit prior to exchange of contracts

The final part of our guide will look at what you need to arrange prior to exchange of Contracts & completion.

To discuss buying a house, please get in touch with Rick Barrow on 01625 523988 or mail@JBGass.com