✦Property · 10 recordsBuy a house

Buying is mostly waiting punctuated by things that must happen immediately. This lays out the sequence — mortgage, solicitor, survey, searches, exchange — so that the urgent things are ready before they are urgent.

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✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

Get the keys without a crisis Month 3

From accepted offer to completion, in the order it actually happens.

Be ready before offering Week 3

The things that become urgent the moment an offer is accepted.

  • Get a mortgage agreed in principleDo firstDay 7
  • Choose a solicitor and have them ready to instructDo firstWeek 2

Offer to completion Month 3

Mostly waiting, punctuated by things that must happen same-day.

  • Instruct the solicitor and the surveyDo firstWeek 4
  • Chase searches and answer enquiries within a dayMonth 2
  • Exchange, then completeMonth 3

Routines

  • Chase anything that has gone quietweekly
✦ It comes with a note

Ready before the offer

A mortgage in principle and a chosen solicitor both take longer than expected, and both become urgent the moment an offer is accepted. That is the worst possible time to start looking for either.\n\nAfter that, most of the process is waiting on other people, which is why the routine is simply chasing anything that has gone quiet.

✦ Questions

Buy a house, answered.

Have a mortgage agreed in principle and a solicitor chosen. Both take longer than expected and both become urgent the moment an offer is accepted, which is the worst time to start looking for either.
This plan is dated over roughly three months from accepted offer, which is a common shape. Most of it is waiting on other people, which is precisely why the tasks you control are front-loaded.
On anything other than a new build, usually yes. It is the one point in the process where a few hundred spent can change the price or the decision, and it is easy to skip because it arrives at the most expensive moment.
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