Top things to consider when buying a property

[EzraDay]

My sister and I are interested in buying a new property this year and we’re also thinking of seeking the assistance of this team of estate agents Plymouth that we’ve found online. However, we haven’t experienced buying property before. Can you give us some tips on what important things we should consider? Your replies will be much appreciated. Thanks.

[R0b]

Hi,

I think you might find it difficult other than generic examples which you can find from doing a bit of research yourself. I'm in the same process as you and my research took me to a very useful website https://www.theadvisory.co.uk/. Although a good chunk is aimed at sellers, if you check the free guides menu you will see there is some information about the conveyancing process that explains it from the buyer's position as well as other information like costs.

Here's some other tips I've found along the way.

1. Should you instruct a licensed conveyancer or solicitor? Check this link for a comparison. I have chosen to instruct a solicitor for mine as I feel more comfortable if there are hiccups or more complex issues rather than a conveyancer.

2. Get several quotes from various conveyancers and solicitors. I've found a lot of the time the price is tied to the purchase price of the property in some way. The website link I referred to above does talk about different ways that you can be charged. I've decided to go online too through Digital Move (link here) which provides a quote from local firms of solicitors or conveyancers and everything is done online. You can message, keep track of progress, send through documents etc. I found that the quotes vary and cheapest doesn't always mean best. Do your research on the firm you pick, google them find out if there are other reviews floating around the web, have they been in the news recently and any bad press? Also worth ringing them up and asking how busy they are because that might delay the progress of your purchase.

3. Look at instructing a firm that offers no sale, no fee. You will need to pay for disbursements but if the sale falls through you pay no legal fees. I think the Digital Move website offers that for all firms who are signed up to the website but double check if you do consider using it.

3. Google "Questions to ask your conveyancer" and put together a list of important questions you want answered before instructing, preferably get it in writing.

4. Consider getting homebuyer's insurance. I've purchase this as a caution but it means you are protected if you end up paying fees but your purchase falls through. I've got cover for 6 months but usually minimum is 3 months at around £50. Also check the terms and conditions and exclusions as well as the maximum payout cover.

5. If you can, view the property at different times of the day, especially in the evening and see if there are groups of kids or other things going on. Make sure to have a viewing of the property before the contracts are exchanged in case there's other damage or issues that wasn't there before (I will be doing this closer to the time).

6. If you can afford it, opt for the Homebuyer's Report as a minimum and not just a valuation when having the house surveyed. A friend of mine had a valuation only and is regretting it because the house is falling down and things he wasn't aware of due to non-expertise. Also if you are looking to do extensions or serious renovations consider getting a building (use to be called full structural survey) as that will do everything on the HB report and then some except a valuation.

7. You will also need to consider each of your share of the property if the amount is not equal.

[Ricardo50]

Hi. Got it. Tnx