Some building societies now provide buyers with a certificate that states that a loan will be available provided the property is satisfactory. You may be able to get this certificate before you start looking for a property. Building societies state that this certificate may help you to have your offer accepted by the seller.

Before finally deciding how much to spend on a property, you need to be sure you will have enough money to pay for all the additional costs. These include:-

survey fees valuation fees Stamp Duty Land Tax land registry fee local authority searches fees, if any, charged by the mortgage lender or someone who arranges the mortgage, for example, a mortgage broker the buyers solicitors costs VAT removal expenses any final bills, for example, gas and electricity, from your present home which will have to be paid when you move. For more information about Stamp Duty Land Tax, go to the Directgov website at www.directgov.uk and for more information about Stamp Duty Land Tax in Northern Ireland, go to the NI Direct website at www.nidirect.gov.uk.

You should be aware that if you start the process of buying a property and then the sale falls through you may have already paid for a valuation or a survey. If the solicitor has started any legal work you may also have to pay for the work done.

You should also take into account the running expenses of the property you wish to buy. These may include:-

community charge/council tax (in England and Wales) water rates (in England and Wales) ground rent, if the property is leasehold service charges, if the property is a leasehold flat insurance costs, including life insurance, buildings and contents insurance heating bills. An energy performance certificate can help you work out how energy efficient your property is. You can find out more about energy efficiency certificates on the Directgov website at: www.direct.gov.uk.

You will have to pay a deposit on exchange of contracts a few weeks before the purchase is completed and the money is received from the mortgage lender. The deposit is often 10% of the purchase price of the home but it can vary.

If the property is being sold through an estate agent, you should tell the estate agent what you are prepared to pay for the property. The estate agent will then put this offer to the owners.

If the owners do not accept the first offer put to them by you, you can decide to make an increased offer. There is no limit on the number of times you can make offers on a property. If you make a written offer it will always be made subject to contract. This means that you will not be committed to the purchase before finding out more about the state of the property. If you make an oral offer this is never legally binding.