Buying

By registering your details with Mark Hillier, our aim is to understand your requirements, needs and to advise you accordingly with your property search, whether it’s for the perfect home, an investment or a pied-a-terre.

Buying a property can be one of the most stressful processes so it is important that your requirements are accurate and realistic within the budget you have set, to enable a stress-free and enjoyable experience.

Please see below for some useful guidelines to buying a property before you carry out your search.

Determine your Budget

Prior to your property search, talk to your bank or mortgage advisor to understand and identify how much you can borrow and which mortgage product (if required) suits you best.

However, if you currently haven’t approached the bank or need a mortgage adviser we would be delighted to recommend an Independent Mortgage Adsviser (IFA) with whom we have worked closely for more than a decade.

Register your Details

You can register your details over the phone on 020 7924 4181, use our online registration form or we can meet for a coffee and have a chat face to face.

It is important when registering that you provide as much information as possible so that we can understand your requirements from the outset, this way we can show you the right properties in the right area that will match your search criteria.

Make an Offer

Once you have found a property that you wish to purchase, this is the time that you make an offer.  If you make an offer verbally it is always best to follow up in writing to confirm your position, your financial situation and the timescale you wish to work towards. 

The more information provided by you the better, this should include whether or not a mortgage has been agreed in principle, the size of deposit, the current position i.e.whether you are renting, or if you have no onward chain, are under offer or have exchanged contract.

Agree Terms

Once the purchase price has been agreed and terms have been set you will need to instruct a solicitor, if you haven’t already done so.  However, should you require any assistance on this matter Mark Hillier will happily recommended a solicitor.

At this stage Mark Hillier will draw up a Memorandum of Sale and submit to all parties involved, including a copy for your reference.  Both solicitors will then write to one another confirming instructions and at this point you will need to instruct your mortgage provider (if required) for the mortgage valuation survey to take place.

Conveyancing

Once your solicitor has received the draft contract and supporting documentation, enquiries will be raised (if any) and local authority searches applied for.

Exchange of Contracts

Subject to receiving the mortgage offer and the local authority searches, your solicitor will report to you with the approved contract to sign and send back.  Once this has been carried out you will then need to transfer the deposit money (normally 10% of the purchase price) to your client’s solicitor’s account with a view to exchange contracts.

Completion

The remaining balance will be transferred from your solicitor’s account to the seller’s account and once received, completion takes place.  Mark Hillier will inform you and arrange for you to collect your keys.

For further information relating to the conveyancing process please view our blog post.