These are the steps in your house buying journey

1. Under offer:

Once you have had your offer accepted, you are then ‘Under Offer’. At this point you will need the submit your mortgage application, with all the relevant information and documents requested by the broker The mortgage is underwritten then the valuation is instructed.

2. Memorandum Of Sale:

This document outlines the sale price, property address, any special conditions and the contact details for the seller, purchaser and both Solicitors. This is sent out to all parties from the selling agent.

3. Valuation / Survey

Before a mortgage lender will release any funds on a property they instruct a RICS Chartered Surveyor to carry out a mortgage valuation to ensure that they would be able to recover the cost of the property should your purchaser default on their mortgage.

4. Conveyancing

Your solicitor will send your Title Deeds along with all other paperwork relating to the sale to your buyer’s Solicitor who will obtain the appropriate searches and raise any enquiries that they have relating to the content. Once all searches have been received and all enquiries satisfied they will prepare contracts for each party.

5. Exchange

Once all contracts in the chain have been signed and deposits received the Solicitors will ‘Exchange Contracts’, this is legal commitment from all parties and now sets in stone the agreed completion date.

6. Sale Complete

The sale will officially ‘Complete’ on the date agreed in the contracts, when all funds have landed with the seller’s Solicitor.