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So you’ve had your offer accepted on a house – what now? To secure your dream home, there are key steps you need to take straight away. But don’t panic: by acting quickly on the legal, financial and practical steps, you’ll give yourself the best chance of a smooth purchase.
KEY INFORMATION
When your offer on a house is accepted, here’s what you need to do straight away:
Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re ready for the final stages of the house-buying process:
Cover for conveyancing, mortgage and survey costs, should your property purchase fall through.
When the seller’s estate agent confirms that your offer on a house has been accepted, they’ll ask for your conveyancing solicitor’s details. So if you haven’t already chosen your conveyancing solicitor, get on this asap.
The conveyancing solicitor handles the legal aspects of the sale, including reviewing contracts, carrying out Local Authority searches, and transferring funds. Read our guide on Finding the right solicitor or conveyancer to help you find the right legal team for your house purchase.
Also, don’t overpay for conveyancing. You can save money by using our online tool to instantly compare conveyancing quotes.
Compare conveyancing quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area.
Another key step of the process of buying a house after an offer is accepted is to apply for your mortgage.
The other key job to do as soon as your offer on a house has been accepted is to book your house survey. Getting it booked in as soon as possible avoids delays and reassures the seller that you’re committed to buying the property.
Getting a survey isn’t a legal requirement when buying a house but when you’re spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a property, paying for an independent expert surveyor to spot any problems is likely to be a good investment.
Investigate the different house survey types including homebuyer surveys and building surveys and get an idea of prices in our guide on How much does a house survey cost? If you are buying a new build, read more about snagging surveys.
Get instant house survey quotes from Chartered Surveyors in your area.
Once your offer has been accepted on a house you can also start getting removals quotes. We’ve got plenty of advice on how to find the right removals company and how much you can expect to pay for removals. With our removals partner, you can get instant quotes so you can compare removals quotes from local firms near you to find the best price and service.
Once these stages are completed you’ve reached the final stages of the buying process:
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When you exchange contracts, your completion date will be set – this is when you pay for the property, take ownership of it and can move in. So you can now book your removals firm.
Use our handy Moving House Checklist to help you plan for moving day. This is also a good time to sort out taking over the utilities and organising your broadband so they are ready when you move in.
When you have completed, you can collect the keys and move in. See what happens on completion day? After completion there are some final steps for your conveyancer to undertake. Read our guide Buying a house: The step-by-step process.
Unfortunately, there are numerous things that can go wrong after your offer on a house is accepted, including:
It takes an average of 5 months from when your offer is accepted on a house to completion, according to government figures. But the timeframe can vary a lot in the UK depending on factors like whether you’re in a chain.
Here’s a breakdown of the key stages of buying a house after a seller has accepted the offer and how long they typically take:
| House-buying step | Typical timeframe |
|---|---|
| Arranging your mortgage | 2-4 weeks |
| Conveyancing process | 12 weeks |
| Getting house survey | Up to 1 week |
| Exchange to completion | 1-28 days |
Compare conveyancing quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area.
Get instant quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area. Our customers save on average £490.
Once your offer is accepted, the key is to act fast. Ask for the property to be taken off the market, instruct a conveyancing solicitor, apply for your mortgage, and book a survey. You should also start gathering removals quotes. These steps keep your purchase moving smoothly toward exchange and completion.
– Yes, you should be able to have a second viewing or visit the property again after your offer is accepted.
– It’s common practice for many reasons such as measuring for furniture, getting quotes from builders and showing to other family members who will be living there. – You may also want to get a more realistic view of the property and identify any potential issues that may not have been obvious during the first viewing.
– But be clear that your visit it about planning rather than another ‘viewing’ as that may imply you’re getting cold feet.
There are no hard and fast rules but you should usually expect to hear back about your offer on a house within 24-48 hours. Although sometimes it may take longer. And if you’re entering negotiations about the price it could take a week or even longer. Read our guide How to make an offer on a house and negotiate effectively.
– There are some factors that may make it more likely that your offer on a house will be accepted, such as if it has been on the market for a long time.
– But instead of looking for signs or indications, the key things you can do to boost your chances of your offer on a house being accepted is to make the right offer and negotiate well. Read our guide How to make an offer on a house and negotiate effectively.
Many people think an estate agent’s job ends once an offer has been accepted on a house, but this is where a good estate agent will really come into their own by helping make sure that the offer moves forward, unblocking issues up and down the chain and working to the critical points of exchange of contracts and a date for completion. Read more in our guide What does an estate agent do
– Yes, a seller is free to pull out of the purchase and accept another offer at any time until exchange of contracts.
– When a seller ditches you in favour of a higher offer, this is called gazumping. If this happens to you, as well as losing your new home, you may find you’ve lost money too.
– So when your offer on a house is accepted, consider buying Home Buyers Protection Insurance, which helps cover elements of your legal, survey and mortgage costs should your purchase fall through.
Both solicitors and licensed conveyancers manage the conveyancing process—the legal transfer of property ownership from the seller to the buyer. But there are key differences, for example a solicitor offers full legal services while a licensed conveyancer specialises solely in property law. Also, licensed conveyancers are usually cheaper. Read more in our guide on the Difference between a solicitor and a conveyancer.
A mortgage valuation is for the lender’s benefit to assess whether the house is worth what you’re planning to pay for it. While a house survey is what you commission to assess the condition of a property you’re planning to buy.
After you have had an offer accepted on a house, make sure the house is taken off the market. You should then instruct a conveyancing solicitor to complete the legal aspects of your move, complete your mortgage application and hire a surveyor.
Buying a house can take as little as four weeks if there’s no chain. However, there are still issues that could cause delays such as if the survey reveals problems. Read more in our guide How long does it take to buy a house?.
When you have an offer accepted on a house you should apply for your mortgage as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary delays.
HomeOwners Alliance Ltd is registered in England, company number 07861605. Information provided on HomeOwners Alliance is not intended as a recommendation or financial advice.
Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), Unit 26 (2.06), Newark Works, 2 Foundry Lane, Bath BA2 3GZ, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
HomeOwners Alliance Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative (IAR) of LifeSearch Limited, an Appointed Representative of LifeSearch Partners Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. (FRN: 656479).
Independent Financial Adviser service is provided by Unbiased, who match you to a fully regulated, independent financial adviser, with no charge to you for the referral.
Bridging Loan and specialist lending service provided by Chartwell Funding Limited, registered office 5 Badminton Court, Station Road, Yate, Bristol, BS37 5HZ, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 458223). Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any debt secured on it.
