Buying Your New Home or Investment Property in Rochdale

If you would like further information or advice please contact our office where our experienced staff will be pleased to help you.

Your requirements: make a decision
Costs to Consider
Register with Imana Estates
Viewing a Property
Making an Offer
Sale Agreed
Legal Process
Appointing a Surveyor
Mortgage Offer
Contracts Exchanged
After Exchange
Completion

Your requirements: make a decision

Decide what your prerequisites are. What style of property would you like? How many bedrooms will you need? Do you require outside space? And location, transport links and any other must-haves are also worth consideration.

Costs to Consider

There are a number of costs to be taken into account when buying a property and it is advisable to budget your finances. Typically this will include:

Solicitor's fees
Stamp duty
A Survey/Valuation (if required)
Land registry
Local authority search fees
Bank transfers
Insurance
Mortgage arrangement fees (if applicable)
Removal costs

It is always a good idea to retain a little of your budget as an 'emergency' fund for any unforeseen costs that may arise. Our staff will be happy to advise you on the likely costs of any of the above.

Once you have registered with Imana Estates we will immediately begin assisting you in the search for your new home, using our database of local properties and in-depth local knowledge. The more specific you can be about your requirements, the more able we are to match you to your ideal future home.

Viewing a Property

We will strive to arrange property viewing appointments at times that best suit you.

Making an Offer

Once you have found your ideal home and decide to make an offer, we will submit the offer, on your behalf, to the seller both verbally and in writing.

Any offer you make on a property will be subject to contract, and is not legally binding, for you or the seller, until the exchange of contracts.

Sale Agreed

Once your offer has been accepted we will arrange for the agreed sale terms to be confirmed in writing to all parties. It is at this stage of the process that the exchange of contracts and completion dates should be agreed/targeted. At this point you will instruct your legal representative to begin the conveyancing process and your mortgage advisor to proceed formally with your mortgage application (if applicable). It is usual for your mortgage company to appoint a surveyor but non-mortgage buyers may wish to organise an independent survey.

You should be aware that although this stage is commonly referred to as 'sale agreed', the terms are not legally binding (England and Wales) until the contracts have been signed and exchanged.

Mortgage

If you need a mortgage then why not let one of our regulated mortgages advisors take care of the process for you. Alternatively you will need to compare some deals yourself and apply for a suitable mortgage. We strongly discourage you from taking the first mortgage offered to you by your own Bank. This may prove to be the right one but you should do an open market comparison first.

You will also need the services of a Solicitor.

If you have not used a solicitor before, we are happy to recommend one of our trusted solicitors.

Legal Process

When the vendor's solicitor has obtained the property's title deeds and any other relevant documentation, they will prepare a draft Contract of Sale. Your solicitor will then examine these papers, including a copy of the HIP (home information pack) and raise any queries or concerns about the property.

Once your solicitor has received responses to any enquiries, satisfaction of a local search, confirmation of your mortgage offer and a signed contract and deposit, they may then proceed to Exchange of Contracts.

Appointing a Surveyor

If you are applying for a mortgage, a lender will normally require a surveyor to carry out a mortgage valuation to see if they will lend. This is the most basic of inspections and does not protect you in any way.

However, you may choose to instruct a surveyor to carry out a Homebuyers Survey and Valuation Report, or a building survey. This will provide a more detailed inspection of the property and highlight any potential problems.

Mortgage Offer

Upon formal agreement of your mortgage offer copies will be sent to your solicitor and yourself. This will confirm the terms of your mortgage and the deposit value required.

Contracts Exchanged

Subject to completion of formalities, both purchaser and vendor will sign the contract. A deposit, usually 5 or 10% of the purchase price, is forwarded to the vendor's solicitor. It is at this stage contracts are formally exchanged and the transaction becomes binding for both the seller and purchaser.

The completion date, agreed by both parties before contracts are exchanged, is normally between two and four weeks after the exchange date.

After Exchange

After the contracts have been formally exchanged, your moving arrangements must begin. If you are selling and buying a property simultaneously, this will involve a considerable amount of organisation and it is advisable to begin arrangements in plenty of time. Key issues will be:

Furniture removals
Confirm change of home address
Contents insurance
Transference of utilities
Buildings insurance
Redirection of post
Arrange for parking permits if required, this may include changing the address of where your vehicle is registered.
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Completion

Buying