A Guide to Buying Your Home

What can you afford?

The first step to buying your next home is to find out what you can afford. The amount you need to borrow will depend on the size of your deposit. Do you have a property to sell? If so, take a look at our Guide to Selling Your Property. Once you know the size of your deposit, you’ll need to speak to a mortgage advisor. We have a professional Mortgage Advice Bureau Adviser located in each of our nine branches and Head Office. With access to 1,000s of products from 90+ lenders, they’re best placed to find you a mortgage most suited to your needs - arrange an appointment today.

With nine offices located across Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, we have a deep understanding of these two beautiful counties and all they can offer. So whether you’re moving within the region or relocating from afar, our informative area guides are a great place to start your research. Take a look and see which area appeals to you most!

You’ll need to consider which aspects of a property are important to you. Write a list of ‘essentials’ and ‘nice to haves’ before starting your house hunt. Once you’ve confirmed your criteria, contact your local TPC office. Our friendly staff will use their in-depth local knowledge to best advise you, as well as register you on our system so we can notify you by email, text message and phone when a suitable property comes onto the market. We conduct viewings 7 days a week and can happily arrange one outside of regular hours to fit in with your busy lifestyle. Start your property search now.

Once you’ve found your perfect property, you’ll need to make an offer. It’s important to consider a variety of factors when choosing your price level in order to achieve the right deal for you. How strong is your position? First-time buyers, buyers with no chain and buyers who have pre-arranged mortgages have a head start on most of the competition.

Once you’ve agreed an offer on the property you’re looking to purchase, you’ll need to get a solicitor or conveyancer to handle the legal work involved in transferring ownership of the property to you. The Property Centre works with a local firm of solicitors who provide a friendly and efficient service designed to be stress-free for our customers. The conveyancing company works pro-actively to best protect your interests and ensures legal title is transferred as quickly as possible. Request a no Obligation Quote.

Unless you’re highly experienced with property, instructing a Homebuyer or Full survey is a good thing to do and may save you money, time and hassle later down the line. We work with several local, independent RICS qualified surveyors who offer a range of different survey types to suit different requirements – simply ask in one of our branches for more details.

This is the length of time between an offer being accepted and the point of exchange. We’re unique locally for having a large dedicated Sales Progression Team, based at our Head Office, whose sole purpose is to liaise with all parties involved in a sale/purchase. Not only does this communication remove a lot of the stress from the process, but it helps to ensure completion can happen as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Until you exchange contracts, neither side has any legal obligation to buy or sell the property. Both buyer and seller sign identical contracts, but only when the contracts are formally exchanged by the solicitors does the deal become legally binding. It’s extremely rare for anyone to pull out after exchanging contracts, and in practical terms, this is when you can pop the champagne cork!

On the day of completion, the money is transferred and any deeds for the property are exchanged between each side’s solicitor or conveyancer. Most excitingly, you collect the keys to your new home!

Try and make moving day go as smoothly as possible by using a good removals firm. We’re happy to recommend local businesses or ask your friends and family who they used. If you’re lucky enough to be able to gain access to your new home before you leave your old one, use the time to do any decorating or carpet cleaning before your belongings arrive. Save time and cost by doing some of the packing yourself and don’t forget to redirect post well before your move date - this is especially important to protect yourself from identity theft.

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