What happens after a property offer is accepted? A first-time buyer's roadmap

You've done it. After weeks of viewings, deliberation, and nerve-wracking negotiations, the estate agent has called with the news: your offer has been accepted. For a moment, it feels like you've crossed the finish line. But here's the truth that catches most first-time buyers off guard: you've actually just reached the starting blocks.

What happens next? Who do you need to call? How long will this take? And perhaps most worryingly, is the property yours now, or can it still slip away?

Right now, the property may be marked as "Under Offer" or "Sold Subject to Contract" (SSTC), depending on how far you are in the process. Either way, it's not legally yours yet. Between this moment and the day you collect the keys lies a complex process involving solicitors, mortgage lenders, surveyors, and a surprising amount of paperwork. This guide breaks down exactly what happens after an offer is accepted on a house, walking you through each phase so you know what to expect and what action you need to take.

Key insights before you begin:

• The sale isn't binding until contracts are exchanged. Until that moment arrives, either party can walk away without penalty, which means staying proactive throughout the process protects your position.
  
• Multiple processes run simultaneously. Your solicitor handles legal searches whilst your lender arranges a valuation and you commission your own survey. Understanding how these pieces fit together helps you manage the timeline.
  
• Average timelines vary significantly. Most sales take 12 to 16 weeks from offer acceptance to completion, though chain-free purchases can move faster. Delays often stem from slow searches or mortgage processing, so building buffer time into your plans prevents last-minute stress, and make sure to work with a good calibre solicitor.

Phase 1: The immediate aftermath (days 1–7)

The first week after your offer is accepted sets the foundation for everything that follows. Three urgent tasks need your attention, and tackling them immediately can mean the difference between a smooth purchase and a frustrating delay. You will need to provide compliance documents before anything can proceed with the property, this will include confirmation of your identity, proof of address and availability and source of funds (when any giftors may also need to provide some documentation). These are routine checks required and will need to be completed as quickly as possible to allow the purchase to proceed.

Stop the viewing clock

Your first call should be to the estate agent to request they mark the property as "Sold Subject to Contract" (SSTC). If this was part of the terms of the offer (sometimes the property will remain on the market if that is what has been agreed, either until exchange of contracts or until certain milestones have been reached). If the property is multi agency, check on the web portals to see if the other agents have taken down their listing.

Your goal is to move the sale forward as quickly as possible. Once you've instructed your solicitor and provided their details to the agent, insist that viewings stop and the listing is updated to reflect that the sale is progressing. Whilst the status isn't legally binding until contracts exchange, showing that conveyancing has started and solicitors are instructed signals to other buyers that the property is significantly further along the process and the door is firmly closed.

Hire your solicitor

You cannot move forward without a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. They handle what's often called the "legal heavy lifting": conducting searches, reviewing contracts, liaising with the seller's solicitor, and ultimately transferring ownership of the property into your name. If you haven't already arranged a representation, now is the time. Request a referral from your Hamptons agent. Look for someone who communicates clearly, responds promptly, and has solid experience with residential purchases. Whilst some online firms offer very competitive prices, your house purchase is a substantial investment and you want someone well qualified to check the title for you, and someone efficient to make sure the process runs smoothly

Once you've appointed your solicitor, they'll send you initial paperwork to complete and request proof of identity and funds. Getting these documents back to them quickly keeps momentum going. As you can do this in advance so that when you find a property you are ready to go immediately, so you may want us to help you get a free quote now.

Formalise your mortgage

If you secured an Agreement in Principle earlier in your search, that was essentially a conditional green light based on limited information. Now you need to submit a full mortgage application with comprehensive documentation: payslips, bank statements, proof of deposit, and details about the property itself. Your lender will use this to make a formal lending decision.

Before you lock in your mortgage terms, it's worth double-checking the figures one more time, and Hamptons recommended mortgage brokers can help with this as they have access to a wide panel of lenders. Use the mortgage calculator to confirm your monthly payments align with your budget, especially if interest rates have shifted since you first started looking.

So, offer accepted, now what? In short: get your solicitor instructed, submit your full mortgage application, and ensure the property is no longer being actively marketed. These three actions, completed within the first week, put you in the strongest possible position for the weeks ahead.

Phase 2: The investigation stage (weeks 2–5)

Whilst you wait for paperwork to process, several critical investigations happen simultaneously. This phase often causes the most confusion for first-time buyers because multiple professionals are examining the property for different reasons. Understanding who's checking what, and why, helps you make sense of the reports landing in your inbox.

The crucial distinction: valuation vs. survey

One of the most common points of confusion involves inspections. You'll hear about valuations and surveys, and it's easy to assume they're the same thing. They're not, and the difference matters.

Lender's valuation

Your mortgage lender will arrange a valuation to confirm the property is worth what you've agreed to pay. This protects their investment, not yours. The valuer conducts a basic assessment to ensure the property provides adequate security for the loan. They're not checking for damp, structural problems, or whether the electrics need updating. If you're ever on the other side of a transaction and selling a property, you'd arrange a valuation through an estate agent. But as a buyer, the lender uses their own independent valuers, and their report goes to the bank, not to you.

Your survey

This is where you protect yourself. You should commission a private survey, typically either a Level 2 Home Survey (formerly HomeBuyer Report), suitable for conventional properties in reasonable condition, or a Level 3 Home Survey (formerly Building Survey), which is more detailed and recommended for older or unusual properties. Your surveyor inspects the property thoroughly and identifies defects, potential issues, and maintenance concerns. This report belongs to you, and it can be instrumental if you need to renegotiate the price or, in extreme cases, withdraw from the sale, but most of the time will be confirming the condition you saw on the viewing.

Conveyancing searches

Whilst the surveys are happening, your solicitor works through a series of official searches that reveal important information about the property and its surrounding area. Local authority searches check for planning permissions, building regulations, nearby developments, and whether the property sits in a conservation area. Water and drainage searches confirm connection to mains services. Environmental reports flag risks like flooding, contaminated land, or subsidence.

These searches typically take several weeks to come back, and they're one of the main reasons the process feels slow. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to speed them up, but chasing your solicitor for updates ensures nothing sits on a desk unattended.

The enquiry process

Once your solicitor receives the contract pack from the seller's solicitor, they'll review it carefully and raise formal enquiries about anything unclear or concerning. These might cover boundaries, rights of way, building work, disputes with neighbours, or guarantees for previous repairs.

At this stage, it's worth thinking through your own questions too. Read through these 30 questions to ask when buying a house to make sure you haven't missed anything important during the enquiry process. Some details only emerge when you specifically ask for them, and your solicitor can incorporate your concerns into their formal correspondence with the seller's legal team.

Phase 3: Securing the deal (weeks 6–10)

By this stage, the investigation results start landing, and you face some important decisions. This phase marks the transition from gathering information to acting on it, and how you handle what comes back can significantly affect the final terms of your purchase.

Reviewing the report

When your survey arrives, read it thoroughly. Most reports categorise issues using a traffic light system: green for acceptable, amber for needing attention, and red for serious defects requiring urgent action or specialist investigation. Don't panic if you see amber ratings. Nearly every property has maintenance needs, and surveyors err on the side of caution.

Most of the time, issues flagged in the survey will have been obvious during your viewing—a dated kitchen or bathroom, for example. Many issues flagged will be minor, and the survey report simply gives you a useful "to do" list for when you move in.

The question becomes whether any findings justify renegotiating the price. Significant structural problems, damp issues, or expensive repairs like a failing roof give you legitimate grounds to go back to the seller. You have three options:

• Accept the property as-is if the problems are minor and you're comfortable managing them yourself Most of the time issues flagged in the survey will have been obvious on the viewing, for example if there is a dated kitchen or bathroom. Many issues flagged will be minor and the survey report will give you a useful “to do” list for when you move in.
• Request a price reduction to cover the cost of repairs, allowing you to manage the work yourself after completion
• Ask the seller to fix the issues before completion, though this can delay the sale and you'll want written guarantees for any work completed

This is where the process of buying a house after an offer is accepted can take an unexpected turn. If the survey reveals serious defects and the seller refuses to negotiate, you'll need to decide whether to proceed anyway or walk away. It's a difficult position, but remember that you're not legally bound until contracts exchange. Sometimes withdrawing is the right call, particularly if the repairs would stretch your budget beyond comfort.

Finalising the mortgage offer

Assuming your lender's valuation came back satisfactory and your financial documentation checked out, you'll receive a formal mortgage offer. This is a legally binding document stating exactly how much the lender will provide, the interest rate, the term, and any conditions attached to the loan.

Read it carefully before you sign. Check the figures match what you expected, and if anything looks wrong or confusing, contact your mortgage broker or the lender directly for clarification. Once you accept the offer, you're committed to those terms.

Signing the contract

Around the same time, your solicitor will send you the final contract to sign. This document sets out the terms of the sale: the price, what's included in the purchase, the agreed completion date, and various legal conditions. Signing it doesn't make the sale binding yet, but it means you're ready to exchange when everything else falls into place.

Your solicitor will also explain how much deposit you need to transfer and when. Typically, you'll send 10% of the purchase price to your solicitor a few days before exchange, though in some cases buyers negotiate a lower percentage.

Phase 4: Exchange of contracts (the point of no return)

This is the moment the sale becomes legally binding. Up until exchange, either you or the seller could walk away without financial penalty. After exchange, withdrawing means losing your deposit and potentially facing legal action for breach of contract.

What is exchange?

Exchange happens when both solicitors formally swap signed contracts, usually over the phone. It sounds simple, but it represents a significant legal milestone. Once contracts are exchanged, both parties are committed. The agreed purchase price is locked in, the completion date is fixed, and backing out carries serious consequences.

The deposit

Before exchange can happen, you need to transfer your deposit to your solicitor. This is typically 10% of the purchase price, or 5% if you have a high loan-to-value mortgage and cannot provide the full 10%. Your solicitor holds this money in their client account and will transfer it to the seller's solicitor on the day of exchange.

Make sure you've arranged the transfer a few days before the planned exchange date. Bank transfers can take time to clear, and you don't want a delayed payment to hold up the process.

Buildings insurance

You must arrange buildings insurance to start from the day of exchange, not completion. From the moment contracts are exchanged, you become legally responsible for the property's structure. If something catastrophic happens between exchange and completion, such as a fire or flood damage, you're liable. Most mortgage lenders require proof of buildings insurance as a condition of releasing funds, so arrange this well in advance of your exchange date.

Setting the date

During the exchange call, both solicitors confirm the completion date. This is the day you'll actually move in and collect the keys. The gap between exchange and completion varies:

• Same-day exchange and completion can happen if everyone's ready and there's no chain involved, 
• One to two weeks is common, giving both parties time to finalise removal arrangements and tie up loose ends and to allow the mortgage lender to transfer their portion of the funds. Request Hamptons to refer a removals company who can help with long and short distance removal services.

• Longer gaps sometimes suit sellers who need more time to move out or buyers who aren't ready to relocate immediately

For a more detailed explanation of how these two stages differ and what happens at each point, read our guide to the difference between exchange and completion.

Phase 5: Completion day (moving in)

After weeks of waiting, completion day finally arrives. This is when ownership officially transfers to you and you get the keys to your new home. Despite all the build-up, the actual process on the day is surprisingly straightforward, though it does require patience.

The money transfer

On completion day, your solicitor transfers the remaining funds to the seller's solicitor. This includes your mortgage advance and any balance from your own savings. The transfer happens electronically, but it's not instantaneous. Banks process these large transactions carefully, and it can take several hours for the money to clear.

Your solicitor will confirm once they've sent the funds, and then you wait for the seller's solicitor to confirm receipt. Only when the money has landed can the next step happen.

Collecting the keys

Once the seller's solicitor confirms they've received the funds, they notify the estate agent to release the keys. This usually happens sometime between late morning and early afternoon, though in complex chains it can run later.

The estate agent will call you to arrange a collection, or in some cases they'll deliver the keys directly if that's been agreed in advance. Before you leave the agent's office, check you've received:

• All keys for external doors
• Keys for any internal locks or outbuildings
• Alarm codes if applicable
• Garage or parking fobs
• Any instruction manuals or warranties the seller has left

So, house offer accepted, now what comes next on moving day itself? Once you've collected the keys, the property is yours. You're free to move in, though it's worth doing a final walk-through to confirm the property is in the expected condition and any items agreed to be left behind are actually there.

To make completion day smoother, use our checklist on who to inform when you move house. It covers everyone from utility companies and your employer to the council and your bank, helping you avoid overlooked admin in the chaos of moving.

Conclusion

The journey from offer acceptance to collecting your keys spans several months, but breaking it into phases makes it manageable. Focus on what needs your attention in each stage rather than worrying about the entire timeline at once. When your solicitor requests documents, respond quickly. When your surveyor's report arrives, read it properly. When decisions need making, trust the professionals you've hired.

The most important action you can take right now is getting your team in place. Instruct a solicitor, formalise your mortgage application, and ensure the property is marked as sold subject to contract. These three steps set the foundation for everything that follows.

If you need professional support throughout your purchase, find your nearest Hamptons branch to speak with an expert agent today.