Once you have seen the property that you wish to buy you put in an ‘offer’, and once accepted you need to work through the legal steps to secure ownership of your new home.

• The property will still be advertised as "Under Offer" or "Sold Subject to Contract".
  • Under Offer means that the vendor has been made an offer for the property but has not yet decided whether to accept.
  • Sold Subject to Contract means that the vendor has accepted an offer but the sale has not been finalised. Properties, which are Sold Subject to Contract, are usually pending surveys or completion of paperwork.
• At this point you are not committed to the sale. If, for any reason, you decide not to go through with the purchase you can pull out without penalty. But the seller is also not committed to the sale. If another buyer comes in with a higher bid and the seller accepts then you have been gazumped.
• You need to pass on details of the property to your surveyor, solicitor and mortgage provider.
• If the survey highlights issues or problems that you think should be reflected in a reduced price, now is the time to re-negotiation.
• Your solicitor will begin the conveyancing. This includes organising searches at the local authority and dealing with the results, receiving mortgage offers, and preparing the contract.