You're sale agreed, what happens now?

Congratulations on being sale agreed .

Here is a guide to what happens next.

While all of the steps listed below will happen, they may happen over a much longer period than outlined. The degree to which the seller has organised their paperwork ( title deeds, copies of planning permission, certs of compliance for building work done, rights of way over property etc ), combined with the speed of the seller's solicitor and of your solicitor will all have a huge impact on when you actually get keys to your property.

You are now “sale agreed”. What happens next?

Week 1.

❏ Booking deposit of 3% is payable by you, the buyer.

The estate agent asks you for a booking deposit of approx 3% of the property sale price. This deposit is simply a sign of your good faith as a buyer and is fully refundable up to the point where you sign a legally binding contract.

You usually need to pay this booking deposit within 1 - 5 days of going sale agreed.

❏ Name the solicitor you'll use.

The estate agent will request your solicitor’s details.

❏ Book a surveyor to do a structural survey of the property.

You want to get this done as soon as possible eg. within a week of going sale agreed so that you know if the property has any deal breaking structural issues. You can give the surveyor the estate agent’s number to set up a time for the survey.

❏ If borrowing, inform the bank.

If you are borrowing money to fund your purchase, you now need to inform your lending institution / mortgage broker that you are sale agreed on the property. This is because your lending bank will want to send their own independent valuer out to confirm to the bank that the property is worth the money they are lending.

❏ Estate agent confirms in writing.

The selling agent writes to your solicitor & seller’s solicitor confirming details of the transaction eg. the property address, the agreed sale price, if any contents are included etc The selling agent usually proposes a target “closing date” of 8 - 12 weeks from date of letter.

Week 2

❏ Property survey happens

Your surveyor conducts a structural survey of the property. This usually takes one to two hours depending on the size and age of the property. You should aim to join the surveyor at the property for the last ten minutes of the survey to get their gut response and hear if there are any issues of major concern. My suggestion is that you don't join the surveyor at the start of the survey, because it can slow the surveyor down eg. if they are talking to you, they can't focus on their task which is to go through the property methodically.

Week 2 - 4

❏ Bank valuation happens.

Your lending bank (if any) appoints an independent bank valuer to value the property. You as a buyer may be given a panel of valuers by your bank to arrange this. It's important that the valuation takes place as early as possible in the process because until it's done, the bank won't start to process all the paperwork needed to produce the cheque which will be needed by your solicitor in order to actually pay for the property on your behalf.

❏ Contract is sent from sellers solicitor to your solicitor.

The seller’s solicitor prepares a contract for sale and sends this along with a copy of the title deeds to your solicitor. The speed with which they do this can vary enormously. If the seller is very organised and has all their paperwork in order, it could happen that your solicitor receives a contract within two weeks of you being sale agreed. However, I've also seen it take as long as 4 months for a contract to be issued by the seller's solicitor.

Week 4 - 10

❏ Back and forth questions between your solicitor and seller’s solicitor.

Usually, when your solicitor receives the contract from the seller's solicitor, your solicitor has questions relating to it. Depending on how organised both solicitors are, this period of back and forth questions between solicitors can take two or three weeks or two to eight months! It can vary enormously.

Week 8 - 12

❏ You sign a legally binding contract and pay a further 7% of the purchase price.

Your solicitor invites you to sign a binding contract to purchase the property. At this point you pay a further 7% of the total cost of the house. Now you’ll have paid a total of 10% of the purchase price. At this point, once you have signed the contract, this 10% deposit that you've paid becomes non refundable. (unless the vendor pulls out of the sale).

❏ You sign your loan offer from the bank.

If you're borrowing to fund your purchase, you usually sign your letter of loan offer from the bank at the same time as you sign the binding contract to buy the property.

❏ You insure the property.

Your bank ( if you are borrowing money to fund the purchase) will require and your solicitor ( if you aren't borrowing money) will advise you to put building insurance in place on the property from the date you sign the contract to buy it.

❏ You get mortgage protection insurance

If you are borrowing to fund the purchase of the property, your lending institution will now require you to put mortgage protection insurance in place ( eg. you need to ensure your life to the value of the amount you’re borrowing so that if anything happens to you, your insurance will ensure the bank loan is repaid)

❏ The seller signs the contract

Once the seller has countersigned the contract, you are very close to closing your purchase. When your solicitor knows that the seller has signed the contract, they should be able to give you an estimated date for closing the sale. "Closing" is

when the money from the lending institution physically transfers to the seller’s solicitor and you receive keys.

❏ You do a final inspection.

Ideally, you will do a “final inspection” of the property on the day before or the day of the closing. This is to ensure that the property is in the condition you expect ( eg. it hasn't flooded) and that the seller has removed or left contents as agreed. If something isn't right, eg. the seller has taken out a fireplace or has not left a couch that was agreed in the price, then phone the selling agent and phone your solicitor. Otherwise, your solicitor will assume that all is well. In reality, most people don't do this final inspection and most sellers act honourably.

❏ The estate agent gives you the keys.

The estate agent phones you to let you know that they have been instructed by the seller's solicitor to let you have the keys to your new home. You collect keys to the property from the estate agent and move in!