Residential Real Estate in London

Buying a Property in London is Easy with Ready Property

Buying a house in London can be complicated if you are a first-time buyer and do not know about the pitfalls of this process. Therefore, it is important to find a trustworthy real estate company to assist you in getting a long-desired home in the British capital.

As a rule, depending on a range of different factors, housebuying in London can take up to two months. In our ‘Guide to buying a property in London’, we cover the main stages that a buyer has to get through.

Financial Matter

To begin with, potential buyers have to set a budget for probably the most expensive purchase in their lives. London offers a wide range of various houses and apartments to rent and buy, and it is important that you choose the one that meets all your preferences. When considering new properties, check every possible detail and compare their prices so that it suits your budget as well. In fact, homes in one of the most popular cities can be rather costly, however you still have several options.

One of the best options would be a mortgage loan. Usually, people can get a loan around five times bigger than their annual salary. However, the situation can be different for a person with a bad credit rating. For a reasonable mortgage rate, the important factor is the amount of a deposit you are ready to pay. A mortgage broker will help you figure out the amount of money you can count on.

Unfortunately, a price of a house or an apartment is not the only thing you will have to pay. If you are a foreigner, you may not know about Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). It is a common type of tax in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. As of today, a person will have to pay SDLT when buying a residential real estate that costs over £125,000. A house or flat with a price up to £250,000 goes with a 2% stamp tax; up to £925,000 – 5%; up to £1.5 million – 10%. Add 3% more to a stamp tax if you buy to let. When dealing with a commercial property, you pay SDLT on increasing portions of its price when it costs £150,000 or more. However, you must still send an SDLT return for most transactions under £150,000.

You should know that you will need the services of solicitors and they do not work free of charge. Moreover, you will have to shell out for a bank’s survey of the house or flat you are going to buy. That is, if want to take a mortgage loan.

Where to Find a Property

The next step in our ‘Guide to buying a property in London’ would be explaining where it is better to search for a new home. There are many websites listing real estate properties on the Internet, however, we recommend you consider Ready Property’s ‘buy’ offers in the corresponding section of our website. Additionally, you might get interested in other services we offer: renting, letting, or selling a property as well as investing in it.

Once you decide what home you want to own, it is time for a viewing. Check the condition of all the household utilities in a property as well as the premises.

Now that you have found a place you want to buy, the next step would be making an offer to a seller via a real estate agent. There is a high level of competition in the London real estate market. Thus, it is important to be considerate when choosing a real estate agency. Professional agents handle every real estate matter with utmost care and diligence, assisting clients in getting nice houses and flats, be it in North, South, West, East, or Central London.

Buying Process

Once a buyer and seller come to an agreement, the real buying process begins. The bank that is going to give you a mortgage loan will take a survey of the property to see if the price is reasonable. As it has already been mentioned, the survey is covered at your expense. Remember, at this stage both you and a seller can terminate the deal for any reason. For a seller, it could be a higher price offered at the last moment. Unfortunately, if this happens, nobody will return you the money for the survey. This is one of the major cons of buying a house.

After the survey is completed successfully, it is time for exchanging contracts. At this stage, you will need to hire a decent solicitor. Conveyancing can last up to 2 months.

Next, a date of completion is set. On this day, a bank transfers the money to the seller and the long-awaited house or flat belongs to the buyers now. The process is long, but it is worth it.

Briefly, the whole buying process includes the following stages:

• Finding a property

• Arranging a viewing

• Making an offer via a selling agent

• Exchanging contracts

• Conveyancing

• Completion

If you like our ‘Guide to buying a house in London’, you can contact our office to get professional assistance.