Whether you’re taking your first step on the property ladder, buying for investment, upsizing or downsizing, purchasing a new property needn’t be a daunting prospect with our guide to help you through the house-buying process.

Here’s our step-by-step guide to buying your new property:

Step 1: Getting your finance in place – Buying a property is a big step potentially involving a substantial long-term financial commitment, so make sure your dream home will allow you to enjoy the lifestyle you’re after. If you need a mortgage, make sure you get one agreed in principle before starting your search.

Step 2: Find the ideal property for you – Do you want to be in the heart of a big city, have the best of city/rural living in a country town, live on the coast or the deepest countryside? You can search our properties by development name, location or collection. View our collections.

Step 3: Reservation – Once you’ve made your decision, you’ll complete the reservation paperwork with the sales team. If a scheme such as Assisted Move is applicable, then further processes will be explained. At this stage, you’ll need to pay the reservation fee which forms part of your deposit and takes the property off the market for you during the reservation period.

Step 4: Arrange your mortgage – There are a vast number of mortgage products available on the market. It’s important to find the best one to suit you. You can do your own research or speak to a financial advisor. We can put you in touch with some if you would like.

Step 5: Instruct a solicitor – For your purchase to progress, you will need to instruct a solicitor just after reserving a property. They will take care of all the legal aspects. Make sure you instruct one that specialises in ‘conveyancing’ which is dealing with the property transfer documents.

Step 6: Valuation and survey – Upon making your mortgage application the financial advisor or lender will organise a valuation and survey of your new home and this involves paying a fee.

Step 7: Enquiries – Your solicitor will take care of all the legal work including applying for searches and raising any necessary enquiries with our solicitor.

Step 8: Exchange of contracts – Once the legal work is complete and if applicable you have received your mortgage offer, it’s time to exchange contracts. This is required to take place within 28 days from the date your solicitor received the contract pack from our solicitor. As you approach the time to exchange contracts your solicitor will go through the contract papers with you, request you to sign them and ask you for the balance of your 10% exchange deposit. If your new home is already built and finished you will exchange with a fixed completion date, and if your new home is currently being constructed you will exchange for completion on notice.

Step 9: Updates on build progress – We’ll keep you informed of how the build is progressing on your new property together with its anticipated build completion date.

Step 10: Home demonstration tour – Once your new property is build complete we’ll invite you to come and have a look at it. The sales and site team will help you get an understanding of how your property has been built and also how things work. As soon as we give you a legal completion date, remember to book your removals!

Step 11: Legal completion – Once both solicitors are happy everything is in place for completion, your solicitor will advise your mortgage lender to release the funds. Or if you are not having a mortgage your solicitor will request that you transfer the monies to them in readiness for completion. Your solicitor will transfer the funds to our solicitor and once the funds have been received by our solicitors, the solicitors will confirm to each other legal completion can take place. We will call you to confirm and you will then be able to pick up your keys from the sales team! At this stage, you will be given a homeowners manual. This manual will have detailed information about your property including appliance serial numbers, instructions and guides.

Step 12: Aftercare – Once you move in, our aftercare team will ensure you are happy with everything in your new property and address any issues or answer any questions that may arise.

If you have any queries in relation to any of the above please don’t hesitate to call 020 8341 2222 or email sales@acornpg.org.