You might have had your eye on a few properties and perhaps even been involved in a few bidding wars but a sale has finally been agreed and you’ve taken a significant step towards owning your own home
But what now?
Not many people actually understand the process of what happens between the period of your bid being accepted and the point where you pick up your keys.
Firstly, it will probably feel like one of the longest periods of your life. You’ve made an offer, it has been accepted and you just want into your new place now.
It can take some time for that to happen and all you can do is try to be patient.
Once your future home goes ‘Sale Agreed’ the estate agent forwards the relevant details of the sale to you, your solicitor, the seller’s solicitor and your mortgage lender. This includes everyone’s contact information, the price that you agreed on and a provisional date for the sale to be closed.
This is where your solicitor comes in to deal with the legal documents and any outstanding issues. He or she will sort out matters such as Land Registry, Stamp Duty payments and all the other legal matters that will need to be ironed out before the sale is completed.
Once you’ve agreed a price, you should notify your mortgage lender who will want a valuation carried out on the property to ensure it is worth the asking price. You will need an estate agent not involved in the sale to do this for you and it can cost in the region of €150.
In order to drawdown your mortgage you will also need to sort out mortgage protection insurance to ensure the mortgage is paid off should you pass away before the end of its term. You should also get a survey done to check for any structural flaws a property may have. Once the property is sold there is no going back so this is your chance to check everything is as it seems.
You will then receive a letter of offer with your mortgage pack sent out by post.
It’s then a case of signing on the dotted line with your solicitor checking over everything one last time to make sure it’s all above board. You then hand over your deposit with your solicitor sending it and the paperwork to the seller’s solicitor, who will get their client to sign off on the deal and send the paperwork back.
Once this exchange of contracts takes place, it becomes a binding contract and everything is official. Your solicitor will then return the loan acceptance and other necessary paperwork to your lender and finalise any outstanding work to get the purchase deed for your new home.
At that point you’ll receive your keys and your new life in your new home can begin!
