Step By Step Guides - Buying a Home

Acre Estates appreciates the home buying process can be daunting to say the least. Moving home is considered one of the most stressful things in life. Our staff remains focused on our customers needs, and not only provide you access to our own properties but also approach our other local agents on your behalf to find your perfect home.

You can rest assured our professional staff will guide you through the process from start to finish - from the moment you first view a property to the moment when we hand you the keys to your new home.

What Does Acre Do for You
The estate agent acts on behalf of the seller (Vendor) and the Purchaser (Client). We are paid a small commission or flat fee by the vendor for selling the property. It is our role as an estate agent to give an unbiased valuation, as to how much the property is worth. We are here to help both sides reach the right conclusion to the sale and purchase of the home in question. Please bear in mind however that it is the vendors’ home not ours!

THE PROCESS INVOLVED IN BUYING A PROPERTY

Decide on your budget and deposit
Acre Estates always advises that a Mortgage offer is in place before you offer on a property. You can contact our brokers by filling in the request a mortgage quote form. This will help speed the process along and inspire confidence from the vendor before they accept any offer that you may put forward.

Our Brokers offer a wealth of experience as well as exclusive special offer rates and will be able to advise you of how much deposit will need to be placed.

What costs should you consider?
Solicitors’ fees (including stamp duty, local authority searches etc)

Stamp Duty
0% up to £120,000
1%: £120,000 - £250,000,
3%: £250,000 - £500,000,
4%: £500,000 plus

Deposit usually 5-10% of the asking price

Surveyors’ fees

Mortgage (arrangement fees, these usually can be added to the mortgage)

Building and house contents insurance (shop around, prices vary dramatically in some cases)

Removal costs

In some cases there can be part-payments on council tax, ground rents and service charge.

Appoint a solicitor
Most vendors want a quick sale. It is important to instruct a solicitor as soon as you have put forward an offer, and been accepted, or even an indication to your solicitor whilst considering the purchase can often result in a quicker sale.

Establish your solicitor's costs up front. It is essential that the solicitor is geared to handling residential sales, can be readily contacted and can deal with your work quickly. The cheapest may not be the one who looks after your interests the most.

We have a panel of our own solicitors who would be more than happy to look after your sale and offer very competitive quotes, for an instant online quote, please click here.

Register with the agents
Register with Acre Estates to stay informed of properties available in your desired area. Make your selection and arrange a viewing. Remember to book early and that Saturday is a particularly busy day.

Making an offer
Once you’ve found your dream home. Make an initial offer, but remember to be reasonable as although Vendors will often negotiate their asking price, in a market where the demand is high, properties usually go for the full asking price.

It can never hurt to ask though and once an initial offer has been put forward, we will liaise with both yourselves and the vendor to quickly agree a price that is suited to both parties.

Gazumping
At Acre Estates we do not entertain gazumping. As far as we are concerned once your offer has been accepted, the property is taken off the market in your favour. What we ask in return is:

By 12pm the next day, Email or fax your details to us. The details being:

The purchaser's name and address, home, work, mobile contact numbers.
Your solicitor's company name, address, the name of the person who is dealing with your sale, telephone number, fax number and DX number.
The name of your lender/building society etc. Your brokers name address and contact numbers (if applicable).
Within a week of your offer being accepted. Have your survey booked. It doesn't have to be done with in a week - just booked!

Please be aware although Acre Estates doesn't entertain gazumping we cannot control the vendor. They can increase or decrease at their discretion. However Acre Estates will not entertain gazumping from its own negotiators.

Decide on which type of Survey
Once your offer has been accepted the mortgage company will carry out their valuation on the property. However, you can choose from three types of survey; a mortgage valuation, a home-buyers survey or a full survey:

Mortgage Valuation is carried out by the mortgage company to assess whether they are prepared to lend you money to buy the property. It is a brief report on the property, they can often lower the valuation by 15% of the asking price, this is because they are always more cautious, after all it’s their money that's buying the property.
Home-buyers survey - this type of survey is made available by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in the 1980s to bridge the gap between the basic mortgage valuation and a full structural survey. It is a more detailed report on the condition of the property.
Full Structural or Building Survey Report - this is a very detailed report, it goes a few steps further than a home-buyers report and is recommended for a property that is particularly old.

The results of your survey may highlight problems with the property that require specialist quotes to be carried out, i.e. damp etc.

What happens next?
Once your offer has been accepted the mortgage company will carry out their valuation on the property. However, you can choose from three types of survey; a mortgage valuation, a home-buyers survey or a full survey:

The vendor's solicitor supplies a draft contract and title deeds on the property to your solicitor.

Your solicitor arranges for local searches and raises any queries with the vendor's solicitor regarding the contract or title deeds. Once your solicitor is satisfied you then proceed to signing of contracts and agreeing a completion date.

You provide your solicitor with the deposit, in the form of bankers draft, building society cheque or cash.

Signed contracts are sent to your solicitor from the vendor.

Things to arrange at Exchange of Contracts

Arrange a removal company - The British Association of Removers can give you a list of approved removal firms. The association inspects and vets these firms. As prices can vary, we recommend that you obtain three quotes and of course ask friends or family if they can recommend a removal company. The British Association of Removers telephone number is 020 8861 3331.
Arrange buildings insurance - Building insurance must be arranged from the date of exchange. Again, shop around for quotes, as they do vary greatly from company to company.
Contact service providers - Make sure you notify the gas, electricity, water companies and council of the date that you move into the property.

Completion
Completion takes place on the agreed date. Your solicitor will pay the remainder of the purchase price to the vendor's solicitor, once the monies have reached the vendors solicitor. (This can take all day despite the fact that your solicitor's may have sent the monies first thing in the morning), the vendor's solicitor confirms that the sale is complete. A call is placed from the vendors’ solicitors to Acre Estates informing us of the completion and authorising us to release the keys to you.