Essential Factors to Consider When Purchasing a Home

If you're looking for a house to buy, you'll probably know that it's not easy. But your problems might not end when you find your dream house, so here are few suggestions to help the purchase process run more smoothly.

When you go and visit a property, try to ignore the internal decoration and general state of the property. Instead, try to picture the property as a blank canvas. If it contains some fittings that you really dislike enquire to whether or not these could be removed prior to a new buyer moving in.

Do not just consider the house and garden in your decision. Ask your estate agent for information about the area. Check the availability of amenities, schools, social clubs, pubs or whatever is important in your daily life.

If you do then become interested in the property, proceed to do a bit of research about the neighbourhood as a whole before putting an offer in to the seller. Check you are happy with the general neighbourhood environment, if necessary visit the property at a different time of day or evening to experience the area at that time.

If you are entirely happy with the property and it fits within your budget then put an offer in to purchase with the estate agent. If you offer is then accepted you must begin the search for solicitors to help you with the conveyancing.

When considering which solicitors to instruct, ask your estate agent which conveyancing solicitors they recommend. However be aware that some agents will take a referral fee from certain conveyancing solicitors if they forward on a potential client - so they may not be entirely objective. Feel free to ask them if they getting a referral fee - the code of conduct for solicitors states that solicitors have to inform clients about any referral fees being paid by them to an estate agent.

You should also know that a lot of the large estate agency chains have deals with large conveyancing 'factories' that are far away from the area, and so will send their clients there instead of to a local specialist - in return for a large referral fee. Those working at conveyancing factories will probably have little specialised knowledge of your local area and you may not end up with a dedicated lawyer to work on your house purchase, instead being passed from pillar to post around different members of the team. Most people who use conveyancing factories only do so once, finding the service slow and impersonal.

In light of this it is always beneficial to conduct your own research using the Internet and obtain quotes from different firms before instructing a conveyancing solicitor. Take care to get advice from experienced specialist conveyancing solicitors - they should really know what they're doing - and to avoid small one-man bands who claim to handle every aspect of the law.

If you're looking at Andover law firms to help sell your house, Bonallack & Bishop are specialist conveyancing solicitors based in Andover (http://www.bishopslaw.co.uk ). Tim Bishop is senior partner at the firm, responsible for all major strategic decisions. He has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years and has plans for continued expansion.