Conveyancing

A First Time Buyer’s Guide to Buying Your First Home

So you’ve had an offer accepted to buy your first home? It’s such an exciting stage!

Upon hearing from the agent or developer that your offer has been accepted, the next step is to instruct a property solicitor, known as a conveyancer, to act on your behalf throughout the transaction.

In England & Wales a conveyancer is required to ensure that your interests are safeguarded during what is your most expensive purchase. Their responsibility is to check the legal paperwork, liaise with your mortgage lender and the conveyancer who is acting on behalf of the seller.

At this point, your mortgage broker should have booked in a survey which is to assess both the condition of the property you are buying and whether the price is reasonable. A mortgage offer is issued once this stage has been successfully completed. In the meantime, your conveyancer and that of your seller will have been communicating directly with each other by raising & responding to enquiries which are a series of questions about the property.

When both sides are satisfied, usually around 4 to 8 weeks later, contracts are exchanged which means that the agreement has been legally confirmed. Prior to this a completion date will have been agreed and then it just a matter of collecting your keys and not forgetting to thank your conveyancer for making the process a breeze!