The house buying process

Buying a home is one of the most stressful things you'll do, here at Lime, we’ll be with you from start to finish. Knowing the rough outline of how the process works also makes the ride much smoother. This guide walks you through steps to buying a home, including timescales.

Here are the major milestones in the house buying process:

• Contact your adviser to discuss your plans
• With your adviser, work out how much you can afford
• Draw up a budget to cover legal costs, surveys and mortgage fees
• Make your application and get a mortgage agreed in principle
• Start looking for a property you can afford
• Make an offer
• Arrange the most suitable protection plans with your adviser
• Expect your lender to arrange a mortgage valuation on the property
• Appoint a solicitor or conveyancer who will start the searches and legal work
• Arrange a survey, in Scotland review the Home Report and arrange a survey if necessary
• Finalise your offer and agree your formal mortgage offer
• Arrange to get your deposit to your solicitor
• Exchange contracts (England and Wales) or agree the contract (Scotland)
• Arrange buildings insurance to start from date of exchange of contracts
• Arrange completion and pay Stamp Duty if applicable
• Move in!

As a mortgage is secured against your home, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments.