ONE Estates are an independent estate agent based in Yeadon, Rawdon and the surrounding areas and serving the whole of the Leeds and greater West Yorkshire area.

Buying your home is an exciting and potentially life-changing journey. Our company vision is “Enriching, improving and protecting lives through property” because we understand the criticality of the sales and buying processes.

The best thing a buyer can do if interested in a property is to be prepared and know what is needed to make an offer. To help, we have produced a guide to buying your home which we hope will provide you with useful information.

1. Costs & Advice

It is important to consider the costs you will need to purchase a property. There are six main areas of cost to be aware of:

Upfront costs

You will be required to pay a deposit towards the cost of your house. This, along with your mortgage (should you need one), will make up the total purchase price. Whilst the amount required to make a deposit will vary over time, you should be prepared to have a deposit of around 10% of the purchase price, but this will differ depending on your situation.

One Mortgages is a full-service, independent mortgage broker. We have whole of market access, and will work hard to ensure that you get the best mortgage product to fit your circumstances.

Valuation fees

Your mortgage lender will want to value the house to ensure they are happy with offering a mortgage. Valuation fees depend on the value of the house; some mortgage lenders will not charge at all.

Stamp Duty

Stamp Duty is payable to the HMRC on completion. It is a proportion of the value of the property; the actual proportion has varied significantly in recent years. Make sure you know the current Stamp Duty Liability Threshold (SDLT) and ensure you have included this in your affordability calculations.

Mortgage Costs

Lenders will normally attach a fee to some of their mortgage products, but offer others without a fee. If there is a fee attached, the mortgage rate itself will be lower than one without a fee. Make sure you calculate offers based on the total cost of the mortgage over the mortgage period.

Surveys

A survey is an inspection of the condition of a property. The cost of a survey will vary depending on how in-depth a survey you require. Of course, having a better, more costly survey is more likely to result in less costs occurring further down the line as it will give you advanced warning of any remedial work that the property may need.

Legal costs

You will need to instruct a solicitor (also known as a conveyancer) to handle all of the legal aspects of your house purchase. These include local searches, disputes, boundaries etc. Speak to us at ONE Estates if you would like advice on which solicitor to choose.

Property Search

The vast majority of property searches begin online these days, so you should consider signing up to receive information from property sites regarding new houses coming onto the market.

You should also speak to local Estate Agents about their property portfolios, and their knowledge of houses that will be coming onto the market.

It is common these days for buyers to post on social media, to see if this garners any interest.

Finally, if you have a particular area or house in mind, consider prospecting directly by writing letters to the current owner(s).

2. Viewing

It is very important you view the property ideally multiple times to be sure you are certain on the property before making a formal offer to any estate agent. Buying a property is a large purchase and a lot of consideration is needed. If you can avoid going alone do so – the more pairs of eyes, the better.

It is advisable to ask as many questions as you can bout the seller’s situation and the property e.g. timescale and specific details on the features of the property and surrounding areas.

Make sure you have asked about the critical parts of the house you are viewing, for example boiler, roof, electrics etc. Don’t be shy about asking specific questions about the property – the more you can glean, the more you will be able to make an accurate and reasonable offer.

3. Making and negotiating your offer

Expressing your interest in the property and making an offer can be daunting and sometimes difficult. The estate agent will ask questions around your situation and verify if you are able to purchase the property you are interested in.

Sometimes your offer will not be enough and will not be accepted. In fact, it may take several offers and counter-offers before you are able to agree on an appropriate price. If it helps, have a ‘ceiling’ price in mind, beyond which you are not prepared to go.

It is important that, as a buyer, you can evidence you are in the best position possible to be able to proceed in purchasing the property you are interested in. If, for example, you do not have a property to sell, then make this part of the negotiation, as this should have a value to the seller (also known as the ‘vendor’), especially if they are in a rush to sell.

Again, if you are ‘cash buyer’ (i.e. you do not need a mortgage as you will be paying for the house in full from your savings), then this could have a value to the seller, as it will increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

In our experience it is always best to be totally honest in terms of your situation; this will almost certainly avoid delays in the purchasing process.

4. Your offer has been accepted

If your offer has been accepted by the seller then you will need to evidence your ability to be able to purchase the property to the estate agent.

Common ways to evidence this are as follows:

  • Memorandum of sale. This evidences that your current home has had a sale agreed and has been ‘sold subject to contract’.
  • A saving statement equal to the amount needed to purchase the property.
  • Deposit Proof and a ‘Mortgage in Principle’ to evidence you have started the mortgage process.

It is common and typical for the estate agent to ask for the details of your solicitor and mortgage broker.

If you need any help in preparing to purchase a property, please give us a call 0113 487 6666.

NOT READY TO SELL YET?

MEET UP WITH ONE OF OUR PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS TO DISCUSS YOUR FUTURE PLANS

ARRANGE A FREE ADVICE MEETING