A property purchase involves more than agreeing a price. Use these eight checks to keep financial, legal and condition questions visible while you decide whether a home is right for you.
1. Budgeting only for the deposit
List legal work, surveys, moving costs, any applicable property tax and immediate repairs alongside the deposit. Get project-specific figures and check the current tax position for your circumstances. Do not assume the seller’s agent’s fee is automatically a standard cost for the buyer.
2. Treating borrowing as guaranteed
Understand what a lender’s initial indication does and does not confirm. Discuss affordability and the application process with a suitable mortgage adviser. Keep enough flexibility to respond if the lending decision or valuation changes.
3. Letting decoration dominate the viewing
Record the layout, light, storage, access and condition as well as the presentation. Make a second visit where possible and compare the property with your original requirements. New paint is not evidence that the structure or services are sound.
4. Confusing a valuation with a condition survey
Discuss the appropriate survey with a qualified surveyor and understand what it covers. The government’s buying guidance distinguishes legal searches and a survey of the property’s condition.
5. Assuming alterations have the right paperwork
Identify extensions, conversions and major changes and give that information to your conveyancer and surveyor. Ask what approval and completion documents are available. Planning and building regulations are separate systems.
6. Leaving leasehold questions until late
Ask your conveyancer about the lease, charges, restrictions, management arrangements and planned expenditure. Request the relevant documents rather than relying on an informal description from a viewing.
7. Pricing repairs from memory
Where a defect matters to your decision, obtain appropriate investigation and realistic quotations. Record access restrictions and assumptions. A single national figure from an old article is a poor substitute for understanding the work at this property.
8. Ignoring the position of the transaction
Discuss the chain, outstanding enquiries and proposed timing with your conveyancer. Do not treat an optimistic moving date as a commitment. Keep copies of agreed information and verify any change to payment instructions through an established contact route.
Use the GOV.UK homebuying overview alongside advice from the professionals appointed for your purchase.
Revised and sources checked on 21 October 2026.