Since receiving the draft contract from the sellers’ solicitor, your solicitor will have been in correspondence with you about what is covered. Before signing the contract your solicitor will need to ensure:
- that all enquiries have been returned and are satisfactory
- that fixtures and fittings included in the purchase are what you expected
- A completion date has been agreed between the two parties, which is usually 1 to 12 weeks after exchange of contracts
- That you have made arrangements to transfer the deposit into your solicitors account so that it is cleared in time for an exchange. You may want to negotiate on the size of the deposit, which is normally 10% of the value of the property. However, even if you agree to pay less than 10% you are still liable for 10% of the value of the property if you later pull out of the agreement. Therefore, if you pay a 5% deposit and pull out of buying the property you will not only lose your deposit but also legally owe an additional 5% of the value of the property.
Go to the property with the estate agent and the fixtures and fittings inventory list to ensure that everything you paid for is still there and the house has not been damaged in any way.
