THE BUYING PROCESS

The first steps
Buying your home will probably involve the biggest investment you make in your life. Most people buying a home take on a major financial commitment via a mortgage and this means making a choice from what is often a bewildering range of options. Positive action starts with being well informed. If you know what to expect you will be able to handle any problems that arise – and that goes for the future as well.

1. Search for Properties
You can search for properties on our web site using our search facility, or you can call into our offices in Monton or Salford and take advantage of our in house matching facility to find a property that meets your requirements. Our proffesional team are always on hand to help you and to keep you informed of the latest properties available for sale, or to help you find the type of properties you may be interested in.

2. Viewings
We understand that it's important to organise viewings at times that suit you. Therefore we offer viewings 6 days a week including evenings and weekends to ensure that you can view the property at a time convenient to you. Second viewings are never a problem and we can work with you to ensure that any questions you may have about the property are answered as quickly as possible.

3. Selecting a mortgage
Finding your way through the maze of mortgages that are available can be a time consuming task. It's important that you select one that suits your particular needs. At Barlow White we can offer totally independant mortgage advice from the full range of UK lenders. Steve our dedicated mortgage advisor keeps up-to-date with the all the latest mortgage offers and will advise on the best one to suit your individual circumstances.

4. The Offer
Once you have found a suitable property you need to make an offer on how much you are wiling to pay for the property. It's important not to be over enthusiastic and you must consider how much you can really afford based on mortgage calculations and any equity you may have in an existing property. You must also consider all the other costs that will be involved in buying your home such as solicitor's fees, insurance and moving costs.  Once the vendor has accepted your offer you should instruct a solicitor or licenced conveyancer to start the buying process. If you don't have a solicitor we can recommend one from a number of local firms. Remember at this stage there is still no legal obligation for you to buy the house or for the vendor to sell it to you until both parties sign the contract.

5. Valuation/Survey

This is normally the time to apply for your mortgage with your finacial advisor.
Depending on the type of house you are buying your mortgage lender may require more than just a mortgage valuation. A homebuyers survey is a more in depth report and may highlight more potential problems that you may otherwise be unaware of. You may also choose to undertake a full structural survey although this is usually on older houses. Any issues highlighted may affect the lenders ability to issue a mortgage offer and also highlight expensive problems to you before you purchase the house.

6. Conveyancing

This is the legal process of buying your house that the solicitor undertakes on your behalf.
 Your solicitor should carry out the following
•Prepare Draft Contracts
- This is drawn up by the vendor's solicitor and sent to your solicitor. It will answer some initial questions regarding the property i.e. what is remaining in the property, where the boundaries are and what is included as part of the sale. Once results of the Land Registry Search and Local Authority Search have come back and any queries regarding the property have been answered, the draft contract is approved by your solicitor.

•Formal Mortgage Offer
- This is important, without a formal mortgage offer you cannot proceed unless you are buying the property as a cash buyer. The offer will be sent to your solicitor for your signature and approval. Once signed you can move forward to exchanging contracts.

•Local Authority Search
- Your solicitor will submit a Local Authority Search to the local council that you will pay a fee for. This is important as it will highlight any potential issues regarding the property such as planning permission and any other local issues such as potential developments in the area.

•Registry Search
- This gives you information on the following aspects of the property you are about to buy including

â—¦A description of the property
â—¦Who owns it
â—¦Mortgage Lender (if any)
â—¦Price stated (if registered since 1st April 2000)
â—¦Rights of way (not public rights of way)
â—¦Any other conditions or restrictions such as restrictive covenants etc.

•Exchange
-The sales contract is signed by both you and the vendor and the deposit is transferred or paid by your solicitor to the vendor's solicitor. The date is then set for completion.

•Completion
- Once the exchange has taken place then completion generally happens a few days or a couple of weeks later. This is dependent on your circumstances and any other parties involved in the house buying chain. On the date set any monies owed are transferred from your solicitor's account to the vendor's account. Once the monies have been received you can collect the keys and you are the legal owner of your new house.

7. Removals
Make sure that once you know your completion date you book your removal service as soon as possible. At busy periods removal services can be booked up and it's important that you ensure that you can rely on a reputable firm to help you move house.

8. Insurance
Make sure that you have all the necessary insurance policies in place for the day that you are moving into your new house. Contents are particularly important and you may want to consider insuring your contents with the removal firms so that any breakages during the move are covered.