A step-by-step guide to buying your new home
Sometimes, when the complicated process of buying your new home seems a bit overwhelming, it can really help to take things back to basics. This step-by-step guide is designed to do just that. It’s a checklist of the stages you’ll go through on the way to owning your new home. Print it out and keep it somewhere where you can easily cross off the steps as you get through them. When it all gets a bit much, it can help to see at a glance exactly where you are in the process - and what’s next.
- Work out how much you can afford
- Decide what type of mortgage would suit you
- Figure out how much a mortgage lender will loan you
- Decide what type of property you want and consider locations
- Get a mortgage agreement in principle
- Register with estate agents, look online and in the papers
- Get stuck in and view lots of properties
- Find a solicitor
- Make an offer
- Get a valuation and a survey
- Exchange contracts if you are happy with the price and all the details you’ve uncovered
- Arrange insurance and home emergency cover
- Contact removal companies
- Inform utilities about change of ownership and arrange for final readings from your existing home
- Completion
- Notify companies you are moving, redirect your post
- Move into your new home!