Buying Your First House: A Step-by-Step Guide

How Hopkins Solicitors Can Help You

Buying your first house can be an exciting yet complex journey. At Hopkins Solicitors, we are here to guide you every step of the way, ensuring you understand the process and feel confident in your decisions.

Step 1: Find a House

The first step is to find your perfect home! Once you’ve found it, it’s time to take the next steps to make it yours.

Step 2: Instruct a Solicitor

Call us to provide all the necessary information to open a file. We need the property address, the purchase price, and your personal details (name, address, date of birth).

Step 3: Sign Client Care Documents & Provide ID and Funding Information

We will send you a welcome package, which includes several important documents, such as our terms of business. You must sign and return these before we can start working on your case.

You will need to provide:

• Two forms of ID: One photo ID (passport or driving licence) and one proof of address (dated within the past 3 months, such as a bank statement or utility bill).
• Source of Funds: Three months of bank statements showing the funds and information on their origin. We must verify that your funds are from a legitimate source in compliance with money laundering regulations.

If a relative is helping fund the purchase, we also need their ID and funding information.

Step 4: Document Verification

We will carefully check the information you provide. If we need additional documents, it’s not necessarily a cause for concern; it’s simply to ensure we have all required details to show the legitimacy of your funds.

• Source of Funds: We need to verify the bank account holding your funds and understand how they were accumulated.

Step 5: Mortgage Offer

Your mortgage lender will send us a copy of your mortgage offer. We will review it and point out the important aspects you should be aware of, but we cannot provide financial advice regarding whether the product suits your circumstances.

Step 6: Property Deeds & Searches

We will review the property deeds:

• Unregistered Properties: We need to check through the original paper deeds, which can take longer due to the additional information involved. We will check for rights, covenants, and any restrictions.
• Registered Properties: We will receive these from the Land Registry and review all rights, covenants, and any restrictions.

We will also check the mining, environmental, drainage, and local authority searches to ensure there are no concerning entries. If issues arise, such as coal mining claims, we will inform you and your lender.

Step 7: Raising Enquiries with the Sellers

Based on the deeds and searches, we may raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor to clarify details or address potential issues. This helps prevent future complications if you decide to sell the property.

• Leasehold Properties: Leaseholds often require more enquiries, but this is to protect your interests.

Step 8: Signing Appointment

Once all enquiries are answered, we will send you a report with the gathered information. You will then make an appointment at one of our offices to discuss any questions. During this appointment, you will sign the contract, transfer, mortgage deed, and Stamp Duty Land Tax document. Signing these documents does not legally bind you yet—you can still withdraw if necessary.

Step 9: Agreeing on a Completion Date

After you sign the paperwork, we will agree on a completion date with the seller’s solicitor. For chains involving multiple buyers and sellers, we ensure that every party can move on the agreed date. We then request your mortgage funds, ISA funds, and any required payments from you.

Once all funds are confirmed in our account, we move to exchange. At exchange, the contracts become legally binding, and the completion date is fixed.

Step 10: Completion Day

On the day of completion, we send the full purchase price to the seller’s solicitor. Once they receive the payment, they inform the estate agent to release the keys to you. We will then call to congratulate you on becoming a homeowner and let you know the keys are ready for collection.

If you have any questions or need further clarification at any stage, Hopkins Solicitors is here to help. We want to make sure your first home purchase is as smooth and stress-free as possible.