The agent has rung. The seller said yes. You have told your mum and looked at sofas. What you have not yet done is anything that binds either side to anything, and it will stay that way for two or three months. That is not a flaw in the system, it is the system. Here is what happens between now and the keys.
What is a memorandum of sale?
Within a day or two the agent sends a memorandum of sale to you, the seller and both solicitors. It records the agreed price, the address, the names, whether there is a chain and any agreed extras (the fridge, the shed). It is not a contract. It says "these people intend to do a deal", and either side can walk away without penalty until exchange.
Check it. Agents mistype prices and forget conditions. If you offered subject to the boiler being replaced, that should be on the memorandum, because everyone starts from it.
What is the order of things after that?
Instruct your solicitor the same day. They send a client care letter, ID checks and a request for money on account. Apply for your mortgage: the lender values the property and issues an offer, often within a few weeks. Book your own survey, level 2 or level 3 depending on the house.
Your solicitor orders searches and raises enquiries based on the seller's property information form (TA6), the fittings and contents form (TA10) and, for a flat, the leasehold form (TA7). Answers come back, more questions go out. When searches, mortgage offer, survey and enquiries are all in and your solicitor is satisfied, you sign the contract, pay the deposit (usually 10%) and the solicitors exchange. From that moment both sides are bound. Completion follows on an agreed date, often one to two weeks later, when the money moves and you get the keys.
How long does it take from offer accepted to completion?
A chain free purchase with a responsive seller can complete in eight weeks. A purchase in a longer chain usually takes longer, often several months, and a slow council search or a fussy lender can add more time. You control how fast you instruct, return forms and pay for searches. You do not control the council or the rest of the chain.
What should I do in week one?
Three things. First, ask your solicitor what their quote covers: "Are searches in the fee?" "Do you order official council searches or personal ones?" "What is our council's current search turnaround?" Second, read the Land Registry title register (£7). Ten minutes with it tells you the lease length, the covenants, any rights of way and who owns the freehold. Third, brief the surveyor. Send them what the registers say about flood, ground and planning next door, and ask them to look harder where the data points [check: house-history].
Week one is also when to raise anything odd from the viewing: the damp patch behind the door, the fence that looks like someone else's. Email the solicitor so it becomes an enquiry.
What should I ask at each stage?
Of the agent: "Is the seller in a chain, and how far along are they?" "When does the seller want to complete?" Of your solicitor: "Which enquiries are still open, and which are you chasing?" "Is there anything in the searches you would want the seller to fix before exchange?" Of your surveyor: "What could you not see?" Of yourself, before exchange: "Has anything changed since I offered, and does the price still make sense?" Until exchange it is a conversation. After it, a contract.
How Eavesdrop checks this
Eavesdrop is built for the gap between offer and exchange. It reads the Land Registry title and price paid data, the EPC register, the council's planning register, Environment Agency flood maps, Coal Authority and BGS ground data, and the council's financial notices, and gives you a cited report for week one [check: freeholder]. Before you offer. Before you sign. Eavesdrop.
Quick answers
Is an accepted offer legally binding in England and Wales? No. Nothing binds either side until contracts are exchanged. Until then the seller can accept another offer and you can withdraw.
What is a memorandum of sale? A note from the estate agent to both sides and their solicitors recording the agreed price, names and any conditions. It starts the legal process but is not a contract.
How long after an offer is accepted do you exchange? Often two to four months, depending on the chain, the council search and the lender. Completion is commonly one to two weeks after exchange.
Sources: Law Society Conveyancing Protocol and TA6, TA7 and TA10 forms; HM Land Registry title register and price paid data; Standard Conditions of Sale (fifth edition); UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook.
