The following information is provided to support your process for finding your new home. If you have any additional questions that are not answered here, please contact us directly, or take a moment to view our frequently asked questions page.
Independent Mortgage Advice
When you buy a property it is important that you make informed decisions so that you can afford to enjoy your new home for a long time. HomeBuy agent staff are not qualified to offer or provide financial advice. We recommend that you seek independent mortgage advisors to help you with mortgage matters and will be able to provide you with details of advisors.
What about solicitors?
When you buy a property you will need to appoint a solicitor to act on your behalf. We will be able to provide details of our panel of solicitors who we recommend on request.
Panel solicitors are professionally qualified and will explain the legal process to you at each important step. They are experienced in all the legal matters associated with HomeBuy - this makes a big difference to how smoothly your purchase proceeds. Most of the dealings with your solicitor will be carried out over the phone, by post, or by e-mail; it isn’t usually necessary to visit or meet your solicitor in person unless you want to.
What it costs to buy a home
Buying a property is expensive and feedback from our customers confirms that an amount of around £5,000 to cover the one-off costs is realistic. To proceed with your application you therefore need to have access to at least £5,000, either through savings or from family/friends, without the need to borrow extra money on your mortgage or to take out a personal loan.
We recommend you proceed only if you have access to at least this amount to cover costs such as legal fees (solicitors), mortgage arrangement fee, homebuyer’s report, stamp duty land tax, gas and electricity test, etc.
There are also likely to be other costs that you should budget for, eg: carpets, household goods like a fridge and washing machine, and possibly advance rent payments.
You should also be aware that a deposit of at least £1000 is payable at exchange of contracts stage. This is reconciled by your solicitor at completion stage.
There is no charge either to register with homeBuy.co.uk, or to buy an affordable home through the organisations that have listed properties. The £5,000 is not a fee.
If you have any questions, please contact us directly.
Alternatively, please view our Frequently Asked Questions page.