The process is that you look for a house and make an offer on it. That's the first hurdle. Once that's accepted then you apply formally for the mortgage. That will involve a survey. There's 3 types of survey. The cheapest is very basic and just tells the lender whether the house is worth the money they're lending on it. They're not particularly interested that it might cost you money to fix any problems. The next one up (Homebuyers Report) looks at the important things like the foundations, roof, damp, etc but only things they can see without going into the roof space and pulling up carpets. The most expensive (Buldings Survey) is a full survey that goes into everything and suggests what might need to be done and indicates how much it might cost.
You really need to have something more than just a quick look so you should go for either of the two more expensive surveys but which one you get depends on a number of factors like the age of the house or if you're suspicious there might be problems. Worth taking someone like a builder along to have a look, as that can give you a clue as to what might be needed.
Once you've got the survey report, you should have a nidea how much needs to be done but surveyors will cover their arse and suggest things that might not need to be done, but you could or should do in an ideal world, because they're legally liable for their opinion.
If the survey report is bad then you can either pull out or negotiate a lower price with the vendor. If there's a few things but nothing major then you can come to some agreement about getting it sorted. The lender will base their final decision on thi report and might insist that some stuff is done or withhold some money until it is. It might decide to lend you less or even not lend at all. So that's the next big hurdle you
Once everything's sorted to your satisfaction and the lender has made a formal offer, then the lawyers get involved. They'll do what needs to be done and issue a contract once everything's sorted. When you and the vendor sign that, that's called exchanging contracts and is binding. Up to that moment anything could happen and you have little comeback if you're gazumped or the vendor messes about. Similarly, you can pull out. One the contracts are exchanged then you or they can't do that without risking being sued.
Following that, you agree a date for the move and, on that day, the lender releases the money to the solicitor, who pays the vendor and you get the keys.
It can be stressful for various reasons.
- Finding a house and agreeing an offer.
- The vendor finding somewhere else.
- The survey being shit.
- The lender not making the offer they'd agreed in principle.
- The solicitors screwing up or taking their time.
Good luck though.
