Guide to buying and selling a property

 

Buying a property

Check mortgage availability

Before you start looking for your ideal property you will need to know your price bracket. A mortgage advisor will be able to confirm how much they will be able to lend you and the cost of borrowing this money.

Within the cost of a house you must consider Stamp Duty, the charge paid to the government on your house purchase, these are as follows:

Below £125,000 no stamp duty to pay, free for everyone.
£125,000 - £250,000 1% of purchase price
£250,000 - £500,000 3% of purchase price
£500,000 and over 4% of purchase price

Current concessions:
Upto £250,000 free to first time buyers only

Register for a property

Once you know how much you can spend register your requirements with us , you can be as specific or broad as you wish, and we will contact you every time we have a property that meets your criteria. We will ensure you never miss out on that perfect house whilst only contacting you with a suitable property as per your requirements. You can also determine how you would like to be contacted, via email, post or phone. Alternatively you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep updated on useful market information.

View a property

Either Richard or Michael Burkmar will accompany you around the properties that interest you, they have a wealth of experience of estate agency in Lymington and the surrounding villages so are very qualified to provide you with detailed insights into the property and area. Arrange to view the property as soon as possible to ensure you don't miss out on an opportunity to own your dream home.

Offer and agree to buy

If you like the property and could see yourself living there you will need to make an offer as soon as possible. This will most likely be followed with negotiations (which either Richard or Michael will conduct) and then hopefully you will be successful in agreeing to buy.

Arrange a mortgage

You will need to contact your mortgage advisor again as soon as you have had your offer accepted, advising them that you wish to process with your formal mortgage application including providing all necessary documentation.

Instruct a Solicitor

When instructing a solicitor it is helpful to use a local solicitor who will know the area and have a good relationship with local planners, surveyors and estate agents, this will encourage a smooth running of the purchase.

The buyer's solicitor looks at the contract and supporting documents whilst taking up local authority searches, the environmental search and drainage search, they will then raise any queries necessary. When the solicitor is satisfied they approve the contracts and return it to the seller's solicitor

Instruct a Surveyor

The mortgage company will instruct a surveyor to confirm the value of the house but it is recommended that you also instruct a survey to check there are no major structural problems which could result in extra costs at a later date.

Exchange

When the mortgage offer is received and all legal points have been satisfied the contract is signed and the deposit paid, then a completion date is agreed and the exchange takes place making the deal legally binding.

Organising your move

Now that you have an agreed date for completion you will need to start organising your move. You will need to consider:

• Arranging removals
• Organising utilities such as telephone, gas, electric and water
• Organise postal forwarding

Burkmars have a list of affiliated local businesses that we are confident to recommend who can assist you to move from heating engineers and electricians to solicitors, suveyors and removals. If you would like a recommendation for any part of your move please give us a call.

Completion

On the completion day the buyer's mortgage funds and any balance of purchase monies are sent to the seller's solicitor. Completion has now taken place, the keys can then be collected from Burkmars and you can move in to your new home.

Selling a property

Arrange a property valuation

Your aim should be to get the best possible price in the shortest possible time. You therefore want the valuation to be accurate inline with market value. We at Burkmars have a combined wealth of experience in excess of 60 years at selling properties in this area and consistently carry out market research to ensure we get you the best price for your home.

Advertise your property

We produce high quality full colour brochures with excellent internal and external photos, punchy descriptions of the property plus detailed floor plans and maps. We will advertise your property using local media, on our bespoke website, the Globrix portal and the Rightmove portal, which is the leading property portal in the UK. We will actively distribute the brochure for your property to already identified clients which are on our database, looking for a home similar to yours.

Exploiting the prime location of our office in the heart of Lymington High Street we will also advertise your property in the window and on our property list. Using the state of the art technology and multimedia channels we will contact everyone in search of a home matching yours, be them local or global.

Arrange and conduct viewings

Richard and Michael Burkmar will conduct all viewings. We will contact you to find a convenient time to conduct the viewing which works with both the viewer and yourselves. Richard and Michael's experience, passion and knowledge of selling properties will ensure that they will present your home in a manner to make every viewing as productive and positive as possible.

Negotiate with potential buyers

Once a buyer has been found it is our responsibility to negotiate the best price for your property. We will keep you informed and communicate with you at every step of the way until a mutually agreeable price has been achieved.

Instruct a Solicitor

The seller's solicitor receives a memorandum of sale from Burkmars and sends you forms to complete, the solicitor will also obtain a copy of the properties land registry title. Once you have returned the completed forms your solicitor then includes them within the contract and sends it to the buyers solicitor.

Exchange

Once all of the legal matters are concluded the contract is signed, a completion date is agreed and the deposit is paid by the buyer to your solicitor making the contract legally binding.

Completition

Your solicitor will receive the balance of the purchase monies on the completion date and this will have been transferred electronically through the bank, this usually happens around midday. At this point you will have moved out and brought the keys into us at Burkmars so that we may release them to the new buyers as your property is now sold.