Buying
One of the largest, if not the largest purchase in your life will be your home.
At Matthew Nicholas we believe that communication and understanding is paramount in order to ensure that the search for and subsequent move to your new home is as enjoyable as possible. Our offices are easy to visit if you’d like to talk face to face, our viewings are accompanied, so that we are on hand to answer any questions you may have, and we will engage with all parties, through the sale, ensuring that every step of the process is covered and you feel in control and informed at all times.
Searching for and finding a property
Initially, recording your search preferences via online portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla can often be helpful and keep you informed in a more general sense, giving you a flavour of local price structures and stock availability. But when you’d identified an area you like and started to make firm moves to instigate the sale of your own property (if you have one) it’s still a good idea to register your details with local agents to ensure you’re one of the first to be told of a new instruction.
Putting yourself in the best possible buying position before starting your search will stand you in good stead once you start. If you need to sell your home to purchase the next, it’s a good idea to have begun proceedings to begin marketing prior to actively starting to view. Provisional mortgage arrangements will make it easier both for you to decide on pricing, and for the seller of the property you decide on to consider your offers in a best possible light.
Viewings
When you have seen a property that you are interested in, please contact us as soon as possible to organise a viewing. All of our viewings are accompanied. All we ask is that you are flexible with your arrangements as you will often be visiting someone else’s home, not just an empty building.
Making the offer
Making an offer and the negotiation process should be enjoyable, if not sometimes slightly stressful for a short while! We endeavour to ensure that all parties come to an agreement in as timely a fashion as possible. Whilst we act for the seller and not the buyer, we aim to be as transparent and helpful as we can be. Once we have agreed a price, the property is deemed to be “Sold Subject to Contract”. It is at this point that the property is ordinarily removed from our website and online portals or marked ‘SSTC’. We will also ask you to formalise your mortgage arrangements and instruct your solicitors to begin work.
Up to exchange & completion
Communication between all parties throughout the process is important to us and we are told that the information we relay is highly valued by our clients and buyers too. We will give you weekly (or more regularly if required) updates to ensure a smooth transition for you into your new home. We are always on hand to aid the process and fill in the gaps that fall outside the solicitors responsibilities.
