London Home Buying Guide
Comprehensive guide to buying your new home.
At Holimpia LTD, we understand that choosing the right estate agent to help you search and purchase a new home can be a challenge. But not when you are working with the seasoned and experienced estate agent with Holimpia LTD.
At Holimpia, we’re always eager and anxious to begin assisting you as we treat every home buying experience as if it were our very own. The esteemed estate agents with Holimpia will seek the best opportunities for each and every London home buyer whilst keeping to realistic timeframes and professionalism.
Although we specialise in the areas of north and east London, our vast and seasoned knowledge of the entire City of London goes unsurpassed. Using the latest in AI technology and our own personal experience, our team of dedicated London estate agents will tirelessly embark on finding you your dream home in the a timeframe that suits your schedule, and without any pressure too.
Please review our comprehensive detailed steps that are involved with any home purchase. And if you have any additional questions, please contact us any time.
Step 1 – Register Your Interests
Jump the Queue For The Best Properties!
The London home-buying market is fiercely competitive and fast-paced, but registering with Holimpia LTD puts you at the forefront of the action. By sharing your interests and property requirements with us, you’ll receive the latest listings of new properties on the market before anyone else. This early access gives you a significant advantage, ensuring you’re among the first to explore and make offers on the best homes in London.
Step 2 – Home To Sell First?
If you’re a London home buyer who also needs to sell your current property, it’s wise to advertise your home for sale or contact Holimpia Lettings and Property Management to explore letting options. Ensuring one of these steps is in place before starting your new home search is crucial. While it’s perfectly fine to browse online and get a sense of the market, being prepared to sell or secure a tenant for your existing home means you’re less likely to miss out on your dream home. This readiness positions you to act quickly when the perfect property becomes available.
Step 3 – How Much Home Can You Buy?
At Holimpia LTD, we know from experience that London home buyers enjoy a more relaxed and enjoyable process when they consult a mortgage broker before starting their home search. Our previous clients have found that having their mortgage pre-approved significantly reduces stress and makes the entire experience more fun. Factors like current debt, credit card payments, credit history, rent payment history, and any late payments all impact how a bank views your creditworthiness. If you’re considering purchasing a home, speak to a mortgage broker now for a free, no-obligation credit assessment and set yourself up for a smoother buying journey.
Step 4 – Instruct A Solicitor
A successful home purchase relies on an efficient and experienced solicitor, and at Holimpia LTD, we can recommend several solicitors who specialize in estate transactions. When making one of the most important purchases of your life, it’s crucial to have a trusted solicitor guiding you through the entire process. Solicitors’ fees can vary based on the complexity of the transaction, but they typically cost around £3,000. With the right solicitor by your side, you can navigate the home-buying journey with confidence and ease.
Step 5 – Find Your Dream Home!
No matter what your home buying price range is, the London real estate market offers-up hundreds of new property listings every single week. Our partnerships with other estate agencies in the London market, combined with our daily extensive property data updates from Zoopla, Rightmove, and Onethemarket, will help ensure that no property gets past us without us knowing about it first. Holimpia LTD will apprise you via email and text alerts, even before properties are listed!
Step 6 – Viewing Of Properties
With Holimpia LTD, we make it very easy to view properties on your wish-list. You can schedule viewings online or in our office and as always, we will show you your desired properties at a time that’s good for you. The professional, yet no-pressure personalities of our estate agents makes viewing your properties seamless and stress free. Our estate agents are on hand to answer any questions you may have immediately and as required.
Step 7 – Make An Offer
As soon as you finalise your decision to purchase a London home, we recommend that you make you offer with your estate agent. Your offer will stipulate any special conditions you may have and in turn, we will communicate your terms to the home seller or the seller’s estate agent. When presenting your offer, you will also need to provide evidence of your mortgage in principle and solicitor details. This will help make your offers stronger and ideally, this will also help convince the seller to accept your offer over all other offers. There are no legal obligations on either side until the purchase contracts are signed.
Step 8 – Offer Accepted!
Once the seller and buyer have agreed to accept the terms of the offer, Holimpia LTD will prepare a memorandum of sale, confirm the agreed price, and confirm the mortgage details with your solicitor. In turn, At this point, the home buyers will need to instruct their solicitor to proceed with the conveyancing process and also instruct your mortgage broker to proceed with completing your full mortgage application.
Step 9 – Conveyancing
Typically as with any property conveyancing process, your solicitor will raise enquiries on receipt of the draft contract from the seller’s solicitor, In addition, your solicitor will request their own local searches and agree on a date for exchange of contracts. The estate agencies at Holimpia will assist your solicitor and negotiate throughout the process, keeping you informed every step of the way.
Step 10 – Survey And Mortgage Offer
A survey of the purchase property will be scheduled by a surveyor on behalf of the mortgage lender. The property survey is conducted to identify any possible structural concerns and advise the mortgage broker of the property’s value. Once the mortgage valuation report is received, a formal mortgage offer will be sent to the home buyers and the buyer’s solicitor. If everything looks good, the contract is signed and returned to the seller’s solicitor. It’s important to note that there are no legal obligations to either party until the contract is legally signed.
Step 11 – Exchange Of Contracts
The exchange of contracts occurs when all parties involved (buyers and sellers) have been confirmed and agreed on. When the purchase contract is signed and executed by both parties, the buyer’s deposit will be transferred and the completion date is then set by mutual agreement. Deposits are typically at least 10% of the contract sales price and the deposit is either paid online or paid in the form of a banker’s draft from your solicitor to the seller’s solicitor.
Step 12 – The Completion
The completion of the purchase and sale occurs when the residual monies are transferred from the buyer’s solicitor to the seller’s solicitor’s account. After the residual monies have cleared in the seller’s account, the estate agent will release the keys to the home buyer(s). And this is when you legally become the owners of your new home!