Strats Estates & Lettings

There are three main functions that an estate agent carries out: Valuing a property, marketing the property and negotiating.

Getting the best from your agent

It is advisable to ask friends for recommendations when looking for an estate agent and look for board prescense in the area in which you are planning to buy or sell. One can also check the local press and property websites to see who advertises and how often as this should give you an idea of how busy the agent is.

Always look for an Estate Agent who operates under a code of conduct as estate agents are still self- regulated.

Many agents are members of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) scheme which guarantees that if you have problems with your agent you will have a right of redress. To identify those agents who are members of the scheme, just look out for the OEA logo.

What to expect as a buyer

It is the Vendor of a property that the estate agent works for. This is not to say that they still have certain duties to buyers.

Property Misdescriptions Act

Estate agents will always try to be as accurate as possible when nit comes to describing a property. It is a criminal offence if the agent to make a misleading or false statement in relation to a property. This can be done verbally, by pictures or in writing.

PURCHASING YOUR HOME

When you have found your property and made an offer on the property , it will be submitted by the estate agent to the vendor. The buyer can put down a deposit as a show of good faith, which will help remove the property off the market in order for the buyer to get things moving on there side.

You are not obliged to proceed on the property until contracts are exchanged therefore your offer is “subject to contract”. You have the right to pull out of the purchase if thjere are any problems with the survey or any other issues or problems arise.

Obtaining your mortgage

Once your offer has been accepted by the vendor you will need to get the financial and legal process up and running. Many buyers would have already arranged a mortgage or have an AIP (agreement in principle) but if not it is time to get a mortgage. We have an in house mortgage advisor who will be glad to assist you.

Instructing a solicitor

It will be a solicitor who carries out the conveyancing. This involves checking all the legalities of the sale eg lease details and right of way issues.

Exchange of Contracts

You will be ready to exchange contracts once you have had your mortgage agreed and the survey comes back fairly positive. All the legal arrangements will need to have been undertaken before exchange of the contracts. The next stage will involve you the purchaser usually putting down a 10% deposit. This will be 10% of the agreed purchase price and this can sometimes be negotiated to a little less. Your legal costs should be in place by this time and you should also have a completion date agreed. You are now ready to exchange.

Agreeing a completion date and moving in

Agreeing a completion date can take some negotiating and understanding from both the buyer and seller. The date of the move usually applies to all transactions in the chain so if either the buyer or seller has an unavoidable commitment such as work or holiday, this can result in it been almost impossible to agree on certain completion dates.

The Seller traditionally will drop off the keys to the agent on the morning of completion. The estate agent will ony release the keys once they have received confirmation that the money transaction has tajken place. This confirmation can only be given to the estate agent from the vendors solicitors. Keys will usually be ready to be picked up by the new owners around mid afternoon.

A purchaser will usually appoint a solicitor once they have found a suitable property. Some may even instruct a solicitor whilst they are still in the process of searching for a property.

Your estate agent will need to contact your solicitor once your purchase is agreed. The sellers solicitor will also be notified and both sets of solicitors will now be aware of the details of the transaction. It will be the sellers solicitors who sends over all the relevant paperwork and contracts over to your solicitor. Local authority searches will be applied for by your solicitor. These tell you of any local authority proposals which may affect your property. Once your solicitor has examined the searches they will be in a position to advise you of anything suspect or out of the ordinary. Details of your mortgage will also explained in detail to you by your solicitor, to make sure you are aware of all the implications.

The contract will be forwarded to you by your solicitor once it has been received from the vendors solicitor.

The contract will be forwarded to the sellers solicitor once it has been signed by the buyer and returned to the solicitor. This is were the buyer will need to make available funds for the purchase deposit, stamp duty and all the legal fees. The transfer and any mortgage deed will be prepared by your solicitor and they will arrange for you to sign it.

The next step will involve your solicitor carrying out any final searches and preparing the final accounts and where necessary request any monies required from you the purchaser.

Once this is completed contracts will then be exchanged. At this point both the seller and purchaser are legally bound and will not be able to withdraw from the transaction without incurring a financial penalty. Contracts are usually exchanged via a simple phonecall between both soliitors.

After completion

On the day of completion the balance moneys will be transferred. The solicitor will need to pay stamp duty, register your purchase with the land registry. Your solicitor should also return the deeds to the property to your bank or building society so they can hold them in order for them to remain safe.