Guide to Buying a House

Buying a house can seem daunting, especially if you’re a first-time buyer. With conveyancing, surveying and mortgages to think of, it’s difficult to know where to begin. If you set yourself a budget and create a moving plan, then you’ll have peace of mind that you’re fully prepared for the home buying process.

Compare My Move work with property industry experts to bring you the most accurate and reliable advice for buying and selling a property. This guide features an in-depth look at the buying a house process. We cover 15 important points to help you prepare for every step of the way.

The average cost of buying a house in the UK is £25,569, based on buying a 3-bedroom property at the current UK average house price of £237,834. This overall cost can vary depending on the location and size of the house, what type of survey you have on the property and who your mortgage lender is.

Whilst these are the main upfront costs of buying a house, there will be on-going costs involved, too. From property maintenance to utility bills, you will need to budget for it all.

It takes between 12 weeks and 6 months to buy a house. There are factors that could delay this, so every buyer will experience a different timescale. If you’re not part of a property chain, the process will likely avoid any delays with other transactions.

You will have to factor in the timescales for applying for a mortgage, conveyancing process and getting a property survey.

Choosing where to live will depend on where you are in life, what you are looking for in a home and where you see yourself in the next few years. Ideally, you want somewhere you can grow into, rather than one you will quickly outgrow.

The area you choose may be dictated by the fact that you have or are planning to have children. Employment opportunities, crime rates and public transport links are other deciding factors. It is elements like these that need to be taken into consideration when choosing an area to buy a home.

To get the most out of a house or flat viewing you should prepare a list of questions you need answering. To help you prepare, we've broken down our useful list into easy-to-follow sections for you to use when at a house viewing. From checking the quality of the roof to discussing what to look for in each room, this article will ensure you're fully informed before attending your next viewing.

Freehold is the absolute ownership of a property and the land it was built on. Although the process of buying a house is never truly simple, the idea of freehold is straightforward: you are the owner of the property and land in perpetuity and are responsible for its maintenance.

Leasehold is when a tenant temporarily owns a property, leasing the home from the landlord or freeholder. Flats are the most common example of a leasehold property, as you can imagine an array of leased flats under the overall freeholder of the building.

When you’re ready, you will need to make an offer on the house you plan to buy. Spend time to work out a realistic offer. Research how much similar properties in the area sold for, and base your opening offer on that. It should be noted that most buyers’ first offer is between 5-10% below the asking price.

Be prepared to negotiate your offer. You’ll also have to give valid reasons if you’re putting in a low offer. If your property survey returns poor results, you can use that to try and negotiate a lower offer.

After your offer is accepted, you will first need to hire a conveyancer to help you with the legal side of buying the house. They will work towards planning a day for completion, which will make the purchase legally binding.

After the seller has accepted your offer and before you exchange contracts, the sale still isn’t official. This means both buyer and seller can pull out, although this isn’t ideal for either party.

A sealed bid is a type of auction that is used when there is significant interest in a property from competing buyers. It is most often found when the housing market is strong, and is a way for sellers to receive multiple offers before settling on a final price and choosing a winner. Despite the sealed bid process encouraging a quick sale, there are issues for buyers to consider before submitting an offer.

To help you make an informed decision, Compare My Move has worked alongside property experts to create an article explaining the sealed bidding process and what it means for both the buyer and seller. From how it works to the pros and cons, we have everything you need in one useful guide.

A property chain is the line of buyers and sellers that are linked together because their transactions depend on one another. This means that they’re each selling or buying a property from one of the other parties involved, excluding those at the start and end of the chain.

If you're not involved in a property chain, expect the buying a house process to be quicker than if you were part of a property chain.

Gazumping is when a seller accepts an offer from one buyer, and then accepts an offer from another buyer. The second buyer has then 'gazumped' the first buyer. Though considered unfair, it is legal to do in England and Wales. The law is different in Scotland. Gazumping can occur any time before exchanging contracts as the transaction is not yet legally binding.

Compare My Move has created this guide to help you understand the meaning of gazumping and how to avoid it, making your conveyancing process that much easier.

Exchanging contracts will make the sale official, transferring ownership of the property to you. Your conveyancer will liaise with the seller’s conveyancer and exchange contracts on your behalf once you’re happy to do so.

Exchanging contracts usually happens during week 8 of the conveyancing process, after your offer has been accepted and before completion day.

Completion day is the final step in the buying a house process. It usually takes place between 7-28 days after the exchanging of contracts and will be the day you can officially move into your new house. The seller must move out of the house and you’ll be able to pick up the keys.

Completion usually happens between lunchtime and early afternoon at the latest on a weekday due to CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) banking system closure on weekends.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a fee payable after purchasing a house. The amount you pay will depend on which UK country you live in and how much your house is worth. Stamp Duty is referred to as Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland and Land Transaction Tax in Wales.

Remember to factor in the cost of Stamp Duty to your house buying budget as you will need to pay this upfront.