First-Time Buyers & Home Movers

Buyer’s Guide

Buying a property involves more steps than most people expect. This guide walks you through the whole process — from working out your budget to picking up the keys.

Before you begin

The more prepared you are, the smoother it tends to go

Good preparation makes a real difference — well-priced homes in our areas often attract multiple viewings within days.

In This Guide

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Who We Can Help

Whatever stage you’re at

Whether it’s your first purchase or your fifth, the mortgage landscape changes constantly. Here’s how we can point you in the right direction.

Step 1

Work out what you can realistically afford

Your budget isn’t just the purchase price — include stamp duty, solicitor fees, a survey, and moving costs. Most lenders offer 4–5× your income, but the real figure depends on your deposit and outgoings.

Getting clarity here stops you falling for a home you can’t yet afford.

Step 2

Speak to a mortgage adviser before you start viewing

A mortgage in principle shows sellers you’re serious and tells you exactly where you stand. It typically involves a soft credit check and can be arranged in a day or two.

If you’re self-employed or have variable income, speak to an adviser rather than relying on a calculator — the difference between lenders can be significant.

Steps 3 & 4

Register your requirements and start searching

Register with our branches — we’ll contact you when something relevant comes up, sometimes before it goes online.

Be flexible on your search. In areas like Tring, a property ticking nine of ten boxes is usually worth viewing. Good homes move fast — be ready.

Steps 5 & 6

Viewings, second viewings, and making an offer

Book viewings as soon as something interests you — in a fast-moving market, hesitating can cost you the home.

When offering, be upfront about your position. A proceedable buyer often wins over a higher offer from someone who isn’t ready. We’ll present your offer and come back promptly.

Steps 7-10

From offer accepted to moving day

Once your offer is accepted, the legal and survey work begins. Here’s what typically happens and roughly in what order.

Step 1

Instruct a solicitor

Appoint a conveyancing solicitor as soon as your offer is accepted. They'll handle the legal transfer of ownership and raise enquiries with the seller's solicitor.

Step 2

Book your survey

Your mortgage lender will carry out their own valuation, but this is not a survey. Consider a HomeBuyer Report or full structural survey, especially for older properties.

Step 3

Searches & enquiries

Your solicitor will carry out local authority searches and raise any questions about the property. This stage can take a few weeks — keep in regular contact.

Step 4

Exchange of contracts

Both parties sign contracts and a completion date is agreed. Your deposit is paid at this point. The sale is now legally binding.

Step 5

Keys in hand

The remaining funds are transferred, the legal formalities complete, and you collect your keys. The property is yours.

Keeping things on track

Conveyancing, surveys, and staying in the loop

The period between accepted offer and exchange is where most purchases slow down. Respond to your solicitor quickly, chase weekly if needed, and ask us to check on the rest of the chain.

If your survey flags something significant, don’t panic — most findings can be addressed through renegotiation or repair. A HomeBuyer Report covers most properties; a full structural survey is worth it for older or unusual buildings.

Where We Work

Local knowledge that makes a difference

Different areas across our patch suit different buyers. We can help you understand not just the properties, but the neighbourhoods — school catchments, commuter links, what’s being built nearby, which roads to avoid and which streets consistently outperform their postcode.

Whether you’re new to the area or just looking to move within it, that kind of local detail is genuinely useful when you’re deciding where to buy.

Milton Keynes
Modern grid roads, strong transport links to London and a wide mix of homes, ranging from established 1970s properties to modern new-build developments across the area.

Bletchley
Good value, convenient access to the town centre and growing regeneration interest make the area especially popular with first-time buyers and young professionals.

Tring
A traditional market town feel, nearby Chilterns countryside and strong commuter demand help keep local property supply limited and the market consistently active.

Hemel Hempstead
A broad mix of property styles, convenient access to the M1 and M25 and excellent local connections make the area popular with families and commuters alike.

Why Michael Anthony

What you get from working with us

We’ve been helping buyers across this part of the country since 1990. Here’s what that actually means.

Teams who know these streets

Our negotiators live and work locally. When you ask whether an asking price is realistic, you’ll get a clear, honest answer based on local experience, not a vague response about the market.

We stay involved throughout

We don’t disappear once an offer is accepted. Our teams will chase solicitors, keep you updated on the chain, and flag anything that needs attention before it becomes a problem.

Straight with you from the start

If a property has issues we know about, we’ll tell you. If your offer is unlikely to be accepted, we’ll say so. We’d rather you had the right information than a false sense of progress.

Common Questions

Things buyers often ask us

From offer accepted to completion, most purchases take between 8 and 16 weeks, though it varies significantly depending on the chain, how quickly searches come back, and how responsive solicitors are on both sides.

Chain-free purchases — where the seller has already moved or the buyer has nothing to sell — tend to be quicker. Long chains introduce more variables and more risk of delays.

Either can handle the conveyancing process. Licenced conveyancers specialise in property and are often perfectly adequate. Solicitors can handle a broader range of legal issues if anything complicated arises during the purchase.

Price matters less than responsiveness — a slow cheap solicitor costs you more in the long run than a slightly more expensive one who picks up the phone.

Exchange is the point at which the sale becomes legally binding. Before exchange, either party can pull out without legal penalty (though this is obviously disruptive and costly in practical terms). After exchange, pulling out means losing your deposit as a buyer, or facing legal action as a seller.

A completion date is agreed at exchange, and that’s when you’ll physically get the keys.

Yes — in England and Wales, a sale is not legally binding until contracts are exchanged. You can pull out before that point, as can the seller. This is sometimes called “gazumping” when the seller accepts a higher offer after agreeing yours — it’s frustrating but legal.

It’s one of the reasons having everything in order from the start matters: the faster you can get to exchange, the less exposed you are.

Your solicitor transfers the remaining purchase funds to the seller’s solicitor. Once they confirm receipt, the sale is complete and we release the keys. The property is yours.

Completion usually happens before midday, though it depends on how quickly the funds clear. We’ll keep you updated on the day and let you know as soon as you can collect your keys.

No, we’re estate agents, not mortgage lenders or brokers. What we can do is refer you to qualified mortgage advisers who we work with and trust, and who understand the local property market.

Any mortgage advice you receive will be from a regulated adviser. We’ll stay involved as your estate agent throughout the purchase process.

Ready to Start looking?

Tell us what you need and we’ll get to work.

Register your requirements with our nearest branch and we’ll match you to properties as they come in — sometimes before they go online.