Jeni Browne, Head of Buy to Let and Residential Mortgage Lending

Diary of a Buy to Let Purchase Part 9 – Join me in a buy to let fist pump?

I have a bank account. I repeat. I HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT. And. AND…. A. MORTGAGE. OFFER!

I know… I know. Hallelujah! So here is how things panned out since my last post.

I went to Cornwall (arrived in the gales and driving rain as predicted). The kids were uncharacteristically good – unnerving to say the least. We then succumbed to said weather, gave up and came back two days later via the Eden project – amazing place if you like plants – the café was exceptional. I arrived home to find:

A NatWest chequebook
A NatWest debit card
And another NatWest chequebook (no idea why I got two, and frankly, who cares?)

Getting the buy to let mortgage offer

Exciting. I bounced into work on the Monday and fired over my bank details to Paragon who promptly issued my offer. Job done. And I have to say that despite my incessant whinging, the whole process was actually remarkably painless… A property found, a limited company formed, a bank account set up and a mortgage offered, all well within a month’s timeframe, and we have Christmas in the middle of all that.

I also paid some money into my new bank account so I could put my solicitor in funds. I then sent my solicitor a cheque, my money laundering documents and a signed client agreement and that… Well, that’s it! I am now sat around twiddling my thumbs waiting for an update with nothing more I can do to expedite this. Which, for someone who has a definite element of control freak about them, doesn’t sit well.

What exactly do conveyancing solicitors do?

So what happens next? My solicitor and the vendor’s solicitor are now going back and forth. My solicitor asks questions, the other solicitor answers them. At some point (I hope) we will get to the point where my solicitor is happy that what I am buying is kosher and satisfied that he can report to the lender that all is peachy. We then exchange contracts (this is the bit where I have to hand over 10% deposit – sob) and we set a completion date. Ooooooh, but I make it sound so easy don’t I?

So, I guess I need to start really thinking about this being a landlord malarkey…

Next instalment: Things I need to do before we (hopefully) complete.