Congratulations! You have received the call you have been waiting for.
The next step is to put into action all those previous preparations you have made, which will enable you to sit back, let the Professionals do their jobs and get you to Completion in as smooth and stress free manner as is possible.
The Estate Agent will produce a Memorandum of Sale and send a copy to you and your Solicitor and to the Seller and their Solicitor.
In the meantime, phone your Solicitor and confirm that you have had an offer accepted on a property. Give them the Estate Agents name and the address of the property. They will email the agent and confirm they have been instructed.
If you are applying for a Mortgage, phone your Mortgage Adviser and let them know you have had an offer accepted. They will commence with your Mortgage Application. Now is also the time to decide whether you are going to rely on the Mortgage Lender’s Valuation of the property and whether you wish to instruct a separate Survey. If you make the decision at this stage, you may also pay less as the Surveyor can do it at the same time as the Valuation.
If you are paying Cash for your new property or with ‘Proceeds from the Sale’ from your current property, now is the time to instruct your own Surveyor. Ensure you also ask for a Valuation figure to be part of that Survey, otherwise, you may not be given that information automatically and can end up paying extra later.
Quick Note: RICS Level 1 Home Survey, Level 2 Home Survey and Level 3 Home Survey Reports were previously known as a ‘Condition’ Report, a ‘Home Buyers’ Report or a ‘Full Structural’ Report. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors changed their names in March, 2021. The Residential Property Surveyors Association also have a ‘Home Condition Survey’ which is the equivalent to the (RICS) Level 2 Home Buyers Report. (You can read our other blogs on Surveys too for more info.)
Once you have instructed everyone you can then sit back and wait for them to come back to you.
In the meantime, if you are going to be using a removal company to assist in moving from one property to another, you can obtain quotes. Some firms will want to come and visit and see for themselves exactly what they will be moving and to explain all the different levels of service they can offer. Again, you won’t feel pressured by time constraints because you have acted early in the process.
If your Solicitor or Mortgage Adviser (if you have one), get in touch and ask any questions or for more information, try and respond within 24/48 hrs. Solicitors do not consider it part of their job to remind or chase you up and will wait for you. If you don’t respond for a week, then you are simply delaying the whole process. If they can’t move forward without the information, it stops the job.
If there is anything that is asked that you don’t understand, which is quite often ‘legal speak’, do ask for an explanation. When somebody does a job day in, day out, they sometimes forget that the person they are speaking to probably works in a different industry and doesn’t understand the jargon they are using.
Try not to book holidays during the process or other wonderful once in a lifetime occasions, such as weddings, as you will have enough to think about already and you can bet your bottom dollar that a Completion date will be suggested for when you need it least.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01757 709955.