Buying Your Home - Key Points to Consider - By: Tim Bishop

Finding and purchasing the right property for you can be a difficult task. This article provides a few top tips on how to make your purchase run more smoothly.

 When you go and visit a property, try to ignore the internal decoration and general state of the property. Try to imagine the property as a blank canvas. If it contains some fittings that you really dislike enquire to whether or not these could be removed prior to a new buyer moving in.

Do not just consider the house and garden in your decision. Ask your estate agent for information about the area. Check the availability of amenities, schools, social clubs, pubs or whatever is important in your daily life.

If you do then become interested in the property, proceed to do a bit of research about the neighbourhood as a whole before putting an offer in to the seller. Check you are happy with the general neighbourhood environment, if necessary visit the property at a different time of day or evening to experience the area at that time.

If you are entirely happy with the property and it fits within your budget then put an offer in to purchase with the estate agent. If you have your offer accepted, you need to find solicitors to handle the conveyancing as soon as possible.

When considering which solicitors to instruct, ask your estate agent which conveyancing solicitors they recommend. You should know that many conveyancing solicitors offer a referral fee to estate agents who pass them a potential client - so they may not be entirely objective. Feel free to ask them if they getting a referral fee - the solicitors' code of conduct specifies that clients must be told about any referral fees that the solicitor pays the estate agent.

You should also know that a lot of the large estate agency chains have deals with large conveyancing 'factories' that are far away from the area, and so will send their clients there instead of to a local specialist - in return for a large referral fee. Those working at conveyancing factories will probably have little specialised knowledge of your local area and you may not end up with a dedicated lawyer to work on your house purchase, instead being passed from pillar to post around different members of the team. Most people who use conveyancing factories only do so once, finding the service slow and impersonal.

In light of this it is always beneficial to conduct your own research using the Internet and obtain quotes from different firms before instructing a conveyancing solicitor. Take care to get advice from experienced specialist conveyancing solicitors - they should really know what they're doing - and to avoid small one-man bands who claim to handle every aspect of the law.

About the Author

If you are looking for Andover law firms who can advise on your property sale, Bonallack & Bishop are a firm of experienced conveyancing solicitors based in Andover. Senior partner Tim Bishop has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years and is responsible for all major strategic decisions. He sees himself as a businessman who owns a law firm and plans to expand further.

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