Step 1: Decide on the basics

Buying your first home can present a minefield of confusion. To assist first time buyers, this comprehensive guide will help you through the purchase process, from arranging your finances through to exchange of contracts and then moving in.

STEP 1 - SORTING YOUR FINANCES

The 1st step to buying your first home is to establish how much money you will need to have saved & what you can comfortably afford to borrow. Make an appointment with a mortgage advisor. The mortgage adviser will recommend which mortgages will best suit your needs & circumstances. To do this, he or she will spend some time discussing your current and future requirements and will then provide a full mortgage illustration providing information about the mortgage recommended, the monthly repayment costs and any other associated charges and terms.

STEP 2 - GETTING TOGETHER A DEPOSIT

A deposit is the amount of money that you will be required to put towards the purchase of a property, with the balance made up from mortgage finance. The size of deposit may affect the interest rate you pay for some mortgage packages - the more you put down as a deposit, the lower the rate of interest.

STEP 3 - START HOUSE HUNTING

Now that you know how much you can afford to spend on buying your home, you can start house hunting. Contact estate agents and check local press and websites for details of properties for sale within your price range. Visit as many properties as you can and don’t be afraid to go back for a second look. Draw up a checklist before you visit and take a camera with you. Take notes during the visit - it is very difficult to remember all the good points once you have left. This way you can draw comparisons between the properties that you see. it is also a good idea to take someone with you when visiting, as they may notice things about the property that you miss. When you have found the property you want, the next step is to put forward your offer

Step 3: Look around the places you like

Once you’ve found a house or flat in Leicester that you like the look of, we can make a viewing appointment so you can get a real feel for the place.

STEP 4 - CHOOSE A SOLICITOR OR LICENSED CONVEYANCER

The purchase of a property can be a complicated process and there are legal formalities that need to be completed. You should appoint a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act as your legal representative. Call a number of companies and get quotes before you commit yourself. We will be pleased to offer names and addresses of local firms. Once you have chosen your legal representative, give him or her full details of your intended purchase. The solicitor will make any pre-sale enquires between you and the vendor and take you through the exchange and completion of the sale. Before the point of exchange, your solicitor will carry out one or more ‘local searches’.

STEP 5 - ARRANGE YOUR MORTGAGE

Now that you have chosen your property, you should make another appointment with your mortgage adviser and arrange for your loan application to get underway. at the end of the meeting, the mortgage adviser will be able to confirm if your mortgage has been agreed ‘in principle’, the mortgage lender will then complete further checks on your income and credit status before a formal approval can be given. Before the lender will agree your mortgage, they will obtain a property valuation which will help to decide how much to lend on the property. you will be given a copy of the valuer’s report.

STEP 6 - MORTGAGE OFFER

When the lender has completed all of their checks and everything is satisfactory, they will send you a ‘mortgage offer’ which is a formal document confirming that your mortgage loan has been agreed. The mortgage offer includes a full illustration of mortgage costs and terms. a copy will be sent directly to your legal representative who will then be able to finalise the purchase on your behalf.

STEP 7 - EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS

When your legal representative has completed various enquires about the property, such as checking the seller’s title and examining the contract, and is happy with the mortgage offer, you will be ready to ‘exchange contracts’. Your legal adviser will ask you to sign the contract and pay the deposit. Your signed contract will then be sent to the seller’s solicitor, who in exchange will send back an identical contract signed by the seller
- this is the ‘exchange of contracts’ that legally binds you to purchase the property. Once contracts are exchanged, a date for completion can be agreed.

STEP 8 - INSURANCE

You will be required to have buildings insurance for the property, the policy needs to be in place from exchange of contracts.

STEP 9 - PREPARING TO MOVE IN

With the completion date agreed, you can now obtain quotes from removal companies and instruct your chosen firm. Agree with the seller to inform gas, water, electricity and telephone suppliers of change of ownership. Arrangements should be made for meters to be read and services connected.

STEP 10 - COMPLETION

Once all of the steps above have been completed, you can collect the keys and move into your new home. At the point of completion, your name will be registered with the land registry and you will have to pay stamp duty land tax. The solicitor will arrange this for you. At this stage, you will also pay any telegraphic transfer fees for transferring money from one account to another.

STAMP DUTY LAND TAX WHEN YOU BUY PROPERTY

Stamp duty is a tax paid by the purchaser of a property against a purchase price. Current rates for residential property are Stamp Duty Land Tax (as percentage of price)

• Up to £125,000 zero (up to £250,000 at zero for first time buyers)
• £125,001 to £250,000 1%
• £250,001 to £500,000 3%
• £500,001 to £1,000,000 4%
• Over £1,000,000 5% (from April 2011)

if you’re buying a property in certain areas designated by the government (usually in areas of regeneration) you don’t pay any stamp duty land tax if the purchase price is £150,000 or less.