How To Be Treated As A Serious Property Buyer

Full transcript below:

So, when it comes to buying a property you need to become what’s termed as a preferred purchaser. But what is a preferred purchaser and how do you become one? Preferred purchaser in the eyes of an agent is the most reliable and most secure buyer for a property. So, in real terms what do you need to do to convince in part the agent and of course the vendor and seller that you are the right answer. The most important thing is to get yourself into the best possible buying position. Ideally that means going into rented accommodation and whilst this may mean two moves for you, it does mean that when it comes to buying, you are buying from a position of strength. The next most important is obviously having your cash funds actually readily available. The number of clients I’ve seen whereby they’ve got their funds ties up in stocks and shares and there’s a three-month lead out period, or it’s in a ISA with again additional penalties. You need to get your cash funds together albeit in separate accounts for financial regulations so that you’re covered but I would then have a print out of each statement ready on your computer to hand over to the appropriate parties.

The next most important thing is mortgages. Again. This is where a lot of people come undone. What you need to actually get is an agreement in principle or what’s termed an AIP, and this is actually sitting down with your mortgage broker or advisor, approaching said lender or bank and actually getting something from them in writing saying we will lend you, Mr and Mrs Smith something along these lines. This is valid proof usually for about three months and again have a copy and have it scanned on your computer, so you can email it through to the appropriate individuals at the right stage. The next important thing is your conveyancing solicitor. The right solicitor is worth their weight in gold and it really is worth spending a bit of time and money with them. It’s not good enough nowadays to say that you used them several years back. I always say to my clients here’s a good solicitor, but we want client ID approved from them, the file opened, and everything checked for any anomalies and if there are anomalies then we can deal with them up front as again your solicitors ready.

Surveyor, I would always have a surveyor lined up and again ready to go. A recent example of this and how we sort of turned the tables when we came to buy was a property in North London for a client we negotiated hard but using our agreement in principal, our cash funds and proof that we had the solicitor in place we got the right deal for the client. Within 2 hours of going under offer on the property, we caught the agent by surprise, I had my solicitor ringing and chasing the agent for the memorandum of sale. The mortgage broker, they were also calling the agent as was I, trying to get the right information and this put them instantly on the back foot. We were now commanding the situation, and we turned the tables from the one negotiating to the one actually calling the shots. So, if it ever came to a renegotiation post-survey we had the upper hand.