Well over the weekend yet more negative news from the media regarding the UK Property Market and in particular the London Property Market where it is stated as factual that prices are still dropping. While it may be true overall it is not true when looking in some areas of London where prices are stable.

So how does this affect the First Time Buyer?
You will have read from my earlier blogs that I do not believe that buyers when looking to purchase a property must first of all be concerned as to price. In my view the property is first and foremost somewhere to live and only secondly as part of a long term strategy an investment since everybody knows that property values go down as well as up.

On this basis it is still wise to purchase a property since mortgage payments at the present time are still lower than most people will pay in rent.

So on the assumption that you are proposing to buy a property it is important that you also understand that the process can take on average eight to twelve weeks to be finalised and in the case of leasehold property even longer.

After you have negotiated the purchase price your lawyers start working on raising questions about the property from your sellers through their lawyers and other agencies including the local authority. In addition they will deal with the contract checking progress on your mortgage and preparing the purchase documents including a transfer. It is only when all the information has been obtained that matters can progress to exchange of contracts.

On exchange the completion date is agreed which is usually ten working days from exchange to allow sufficient time to deal with last minute searches and questions which may arise on the mortgage.

On the completion day access is usually available from midday and in the event that either you or your seller fails to complete for whatever reason compensation will be payable by the defaulting party.

In my next blog I will attempt to give a brief overview of why Identification and proof of address is now needed on all property transactions in the UK