spouse of scouse

Assuming we were in the UK for 6 - 8 weeks, with the purpose of buying a property. If we had an offer accepted on an empty property with no chain, could we complete the formalities in those 6 - 8 weeks? If not, could we complete the process once we were back in Australia?

Ta

Sally Redux

If it's cash and the property's empty, maybe, although the process seems to move slowly. As far as I know you could complete everything from overseas though. There are more checks on your identity than there used to be and that could possibly slow things down if you are not already living in the UK.

Assume you got out of the other flat purchase OK then?

lf1

We did this a few years ago. Made a trip to the UK in May, bought a house and took possession late July. Beyond the initial offer, everything else was handled upon our return to Canada. Purchase was made in Scotland and although it has a different system, I imagine the paperwork etc can be handled even if you have returned to Oz.

quiltman

To some extent it depends on the solicitor you use to do the conveyancing. Besides the local searches , which can take from 1-4 weeks , depending on the council, nowadays there are various certificates such as electrical,FENSA for double glazing, if fitted, proof of building permissions and ECA certificate. etc. Once you have signed the contract then everything else can be handled remotely , so long as the purchase monies are available for your solicitor. you can complete the sale on the same day as you exchange contracts, especially if there is no chain. find a good solicitor, tell him your timeline and he'll tell you what's needed. Mainly it depends on how prepared the vendor is - does he have all the paperwork required, such as title etc. If he has to collect the various bits and pieces then it could add a couple of weeks. As you may know, in england a sale is NOT binding until contracts are exchanged. Where are you thinking of looking? I could ask my UK solicitor to recommend someone in your preferred area if it helps. Oh, and don't forget a building survey!

Pythagoras

Its feasible to deal with surveyors and solicitors while living abroad (through emails and phone calls) having jumped through all the 'proof of ID' hoops. One downside is that I chose an unsatisfactory solicitor, and when I pulled out of the purchase, it was difficult to get back the unspent portion of the money I'd paid them (Not being able to go and see them, I couldn't put much pressure on them)

No reason why contracts couldn't be finalized in 6-8 weeks - if everyone working for you has the 'will' and there are no problems with the property.

On the other hand, surveys (in which the surveyor might recommend you pay for a structural engineer to check out, say, the safety of a missing load-bearing wall (etc) - add to the timescale if visits have to be arranged, and certainly costs money. (I personally wouldn't bother having a survey done if the property was 'new-build' and likely under guarantee)

In my experience the most time-consuming part of property purchase is solicitors' enquiries: there could be problems with the lease/deeds requiring action from the vendor's side - who then 'drag their feet'.

When I sold my last UK house, an extra 3 weeks were added to the process, when my buyer noticed a 'restrictive covenant' relating to a garden shed. The local council had to give 'approval' to the 'breach of restrictive covenant'

Good luck!

Jerseygirl

Yes you can. I have bought in less than a month. The solicitor and possibly the estate agent will need to see your passport...or a notarized copy. It must be notorised by a qualified practicing solicitor. You can appoint a proxy to sign everything...which will save time and money in sending documents back and forth as original signatures are required...or at least they were when I bought. My solicitor was my proxy. Both the estate agent and solicitor need to move quickly...so choose your solicitor carefully and stress the urgency.

Pythagoras

Last time I was interested in buying, and was in the UK, I used a solicitor recommended by the estate agent, and this solicitor carried out the necessary scrutiny of my passport.

As things began to move, it became obvious to me that this guy wasn't 'at his best' at the end of the week: he wasn't available, his emails didn't make sense, and I wondered whether he was on Scotch, Irish or some either kind of whiskey..? In any case, I felt the solicitor was working to get a contract signed asap - rather than representing me

The point is - I would do some research on solicitors before appointing one. Always a danger of feeling pushed to get things moving if you're only in the country for a certain time, which can be counter-productive

robin1234

We recently did this, a cash purchase of a new-build leasehold flat. We felt it took a frustratingly long time, in the end I guess it doesn't matter that much.

This was our time line, from memory. We were in England for just four weeks, mid November through mid December.
- 21 November, put down 1,000 pounds deposit at the sales office for the flat.
- 25 November, gave our solicitor a deposit for her fees etc. and gave her all our required ID to photocopy. She also required our NI Numbers, for the land registry.
- 3 December, paid our solicitor ten percent of the purchase price for the exchange so it could happen before Christmas, and signed documents so she could act as our proxy.
- About 9 January she told us the completion would be 23 January, so we immediately wired her the balance of the purchase price (etc.) from our bank in the Isle of Man.
- 23 January, completion fortunately happened.
- Early February, I showed up to take possession....

Why such a long drawn out process? In our case, Christmas intervened, which I feel set things back several weeks. Then the vendor seemed to drag their heels, I can't understand why, since the flat had been sitting completed and empty for six months or more, you'd think they wanted to get the money finally. As others have stated in earlier posts, it is crucial to get all the ID documents and the signatures to the solicitor face to face, then everything else can happen via email. And the various environmental searches and other legally required things seem to take time.

robin1234

Our solicitor was dreadful. She was recommended by the vendor, and gave us a 250 pound fee discount on that basis. In principle, that was a very bad idea, potential conflict of interest etc. However, since we didn't know any solicitors, it was the easiest way to go.

Very appropriately, her name was Stalin. Spelt slightly differently, but that's what my wife and I called her. Somehow you could imagine her sending millions of people to Siberia etc.

Wombat7

To add to what others have said. Assuming you are buying in England (Scotland has a different sytem, don't know about Wales or NI), even if your offer is accepted, it can all fall through. We made a cash offer on a house with no chain, it was accepted and then the sellers changed their mind and took the house off the market. We are lucky this happened before we paid out money on searches, solicitor fees etc. This afternoon I was talking to someone who went through a similar experience except she did pay for the search and legal fees. Crazy, crazy system.

Englishmum

Do bear in mind that the purchase of property in Scotland is very different to England, Wales and AFAIK, Northern Ireland.

Advice for property purchase in England:

Citizens Advice - Buying a home

(If not England ie. Scotland, Wales and NI use the drop down box near the top of the page)

Also:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.u...les--n-ireland


Finding a solicitor:

SRA | Finding a solicitor | Solicitors Regulation Authority

Find a Solicitor - The Law Society

Stamp Duty Calculator:

Stamp duty calculator: How much to pay on property - compare new and old systems | This is Money

Btw: this is an excellent money advice website and has a section (and a forum) on aspects of buying property:

Money Saving Expert: Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more

Mortgages & Homes: Comprehensive guides to mortgages & remortgages

Mortgages & Homes: Comprehensive guides to mortgages & remortgages

Mortgages & Endowments - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

House Buying, Renting & Selling - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

Englishmum

Btw; I don't know the names of the credit reference agencies in Australia (eg. Experian, Equifax etc. are some of the US and UK ones) but I strongly suggest that you print off your most recent credit rating reports to show that you are not up to your eyes in debt and have a strong repayment record of your bills and purchases.

Also do try and print off or get copies of your savings and current (day to day) banking transactions for as far back as you can....we had ours going back for 18 months to show to a mortgage broker when we moved to the States and I daresay it would be a good thing to show in the UK too. We also paid our banks to issue a letter stating that we were in good standing with our bank accounts with them.

Even if you are not in need of a mortgage, these letters may be useful when you are setting up utility accounts, mobile phone or cable/satellite TV contracts, otherwise you may be asked to provide a large deposit instead if they can't pull up a recent credit report for you.

robin1234

I'd heard this, and was expecting the worst when I set up electricity, phone and council tax accounts for our new place in Norfolk. However, they were all compliant and happy to set up normal accounts with no upfront payment required. None seemed concerned that I was showing up out of nowhere with no credit history and no former address.

Englishmum

That's good to hear. I wonder if this was because you were buying a property as opposed to being a tenant, so less likely to 'do a runner'?

robin1234

Yes definitely. I notice that was one of the first questions.