Tips to Ensure a Smooth Home-Buying Process

Buying a house is a notoriously difficult undertaking, that can take months to complete and cause significant stress in the process. The market is an unusual one at the moment, though, with higher rates of interest for mortgages butting against falling house prices. If you’re a first-time buyer hoping to capitalise on falling house prices, what tips might you find helpful in guaranteeing a smoother road to completion?

The Budget

While there are near-endless ways in which completing a house can go wrong, it certainly doesn’t hurt to start with the very beginning of the process altogether – your budget, and choice of home. You are highly unlikely to get a bank to agree to a mortgage above a specific threshold, that relates directly to your household income and financial history. 

This can make bidding for higher-value homes difficult, and could frustrate or even derail a purchase process, to say nothing of issues you might have in attempting to haggle sellers down to size. A proper, realistic and even ruthless assessment of what you can actually afford could save you a lot of heart-ache. This budget should not solely focus on your mortgage, either; it should also take into account ancillary costs from stamp duty to haulage and conveyancing.

Surveys and Conveyancing

Speaking of which, conveyancing solicitors are a non-negotiable requirement for a smooth house-buying process. They are solicitors that handle the legal aspects of your purchase, from verifying details with the Land Registry to reviewing contracts and liaising with your mortgage provider.

Conveyancing solicitors also help to organise surveys of the property, which outline any potential structural problems or issues that might have long-term impacts the property’s viability. The tip is not to choose a conveyancer, but to choose a good conveyancer with a proven track record. 

There have been instances where conveyancers have failed in their duty to flag up issues with a property – leading to extended completion periods or straight-up loss of money. This is professional negligence, and something which requires civil litigation of its own to sort out. In the event that you are caught out by a less-than-stellar conveyancer, professional negligence solicitors are your route to investigation and compensation.

The Mortgage

Your mortgage is a foundational aspect of your house-hunting; without it, no meaningful progress can be made. Indeed, to make your hunting as smooth as possible, you should endeavour to get a mortgage as early in the process as possible. In order to get a mortgage without having a specific property in mind, you would need to apply for a ‘mortgage in principle’ – which sees the mortgage provider investigate your finances and use that information to agree a prospective maximum amount.

Your Expectations

Lastly, it is important to understand that not all house purchases are alike. There will always be something that blocks progress, and it is par for the course that delays or difficulties will present themselves – not just in the process, but also with regard to the property’s quality itself. In managing your expectations as well as your efforts, you can ensure the emotional aspect of moving remains smooth as well as the practical aspect.