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Guide to Buying a Property

Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions that you'll ever make. Trust us to guide you through the process and make it feel as special as you've envisioned.

Which neighbourhood is right for you? 

Your priorities will be completely unique to you, so begin by defining your "must haves" and "nice to haves" when it comes to your new neighbourhood. How many bedrooms will you need? Will outdoor space be a priority? Do need to be within a particular school catchment area? We have some handy area guides to help you get familiar with what each area has to offer. 

Once you've narrowed it down, we suggest visiting the area at different times of the day to walk around and explore the local amenities. West Hampstead, Kilburn, Queens Park and Cricklewood are gems! 

Determine your affordability 

Speak to a mortgage adviser to establish your price range. It’s worth keeping in mind that interest rates are likely to rise at some point, so ensure that you can continue to pay your mortgage if they do. We work with some fantastic trusted mortgage brokers and are happy to make recommendations. 

You may be aware that there are additional costs involved when buying a property. These include your deposit, stamp duty land tax and conveyancing fees. There will also be ongoing costs involved in owning your new property, such as mortgage repayments, council tax, energy bills and any annual service charges.

Finding just the right fit 

Next, it's time to view available properties that meet your criteria. We've developed a unique style of virtual property tours that allows you to guide your own viewing depending on which rooms are most important to you! It also allows you to view as many properties as you like at once, wherever and whenever is most convenient.

This makes for easy comparisons, and allows you to consider each property in your own time without pressure. You can also prepare questions for the seller. 

Making an offer

When you've found the one that's just right, it's time to make an offer! We'll put your offer forward to the seller and facilitate negotiations. Once a final price has been accepted (congratulations!), you'll need to submit your mortgage application and arrange a valuation of the property with your lender. 

Something that's quite unique to Paramount is that we advise our buyers and sellers to sign a lock-out agreement to prevent gazumping and gazundering. This offers a level of protections and helps ensure that the offer progresses to completion. 

Surveys

There are three types of surveys: 

Valuation reports are the cheapest and are required by a mortgage lender. They reveal any major problems with a property but do not provide a great level of detail. 

The homebuyer survey is a more detailed report and highlights issues that might affect the value of the property, damp in the walls and any other urgent problems. This is a sufficient survey for most properties. 

For those in need of a renovation, a full structural survey is recommended. It's the most thorough survey and is worth paying for if the property is listed or older. 

Moving day

Make the big day go as smoothly as possible by preparing a checklist of tasks that need to be completed ahead of time. These could include: 

  • Book a removal service 
  • Redirect post
  • Inform key people and companies of your move date and new address
  • Read the meters and inform utility companies
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