Buying a House – Exchange and Completion

This is the 4th and final part in my house buying series and follows on from ‘Solicitors and Surveys’. Once all the paperwork is complete you are now ready to exchange contracts. Once you have exchanged you are legally bound to buying the house and the seller legally has to sell it to you. You cannot pull out of this without incurring major costs and potentially losing your deposit. We exchanged 14 weeks after putting in our offer but I have no idea what the average timescale is, it will vary greatly depending on your chain and circumstances.

The Exchange process involves handing over the money for your deposit, any remaining fees and stamp duty to your solicitors. It was scary transferring that much money at once, I was so worried it would somehow get lost on route. Once the solicitor receives the funds and everyone else in the chain has done the same then you are ready to exchange. As soon as this was done we then needed to set up buildings insurance straight away as we were then responsible for the building and committed to buying the house. This then had to be approved by the solicitors to ensure it met the requirements of the lender.

We had no idea when we were going to exchange, all of my friends seemed to have a date well in advance yet we paid all of this money and didn’t have a clue. The solicitors were very vague with us and wouldn’t give us anything concrete. They wanted us to set up buildings insurance from the date of exchange yet wouldn’t give me a date so we went around in circles for a bit. After telling us ‘exchange was just around the corner’ we then had is sprung on us that we were in fact in a chain. We then knew it was going to take forever, this really did get me down and I kept trying to think of the positives. The longer it dragged on the more money I had in the bank for furniture and other house related items.

When you exchange you should then get a completion date. Our date was 12 days later but this can happen within a week or even a matter of days. We were pleased we had a bit of extra time as we hadn’t really started packing. Those 12 days were the longest days EVER. I just wanted the keys in my hand. Completion day is the most exciting part.. the day you get your keys! I will write all about my experience with moving in my next post.

I really hope this series has helped you or at least given you a rough idea on what it’s like to buy a house for the first time! If you have any questions please feel free to use the ‘Contact’ page and drop me an email.

Helpful House Buying Links:

Where to Start 

Putting in an Offer

Solicitors and Surveys

Primark PS Pro Oval Brush Review

I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally see these in my local Primark after convincing myself that they were all just a rumour. I even traipsed all the way to the London Primark thinking they would have them there but with no luck. Finally after months of searching, I saw the Oval Brushes in my own branch and had to snap them up. I decided to buy one of each size, for fear that they may go out of stock and disappear again. I got the Primark PS Pro Large Blending Brush for £4, PS Pro Medium Blending Brush for £3, and the PS Pro Small Blending Brush for £2.50.

Primark have well and truly upped their game when it comes to their beauty items. I even noticed acrylic storage now available – gone are the days of ordering it all from Muji! These PS Pro brushes are the perfect dupe for the much loved high end Artis brushes, and a lot more affordable. I have been after an Oval brush ever since I saw Kylie Jenner using them to apply her moisturiser but no way was I going to spend more than £40 on one brush.

These brushes are synthetic but the hairs feel very soft and work wonders when buffing products into the skin. I now pump my foundation directly onto the brush and I am amazed at how flawless my make-up looks. The brushes give an airbrushed finish. I love that Primark do different sizes and they are great for different areas on the face. I find the small brush perfect for getting around the nose and into smaller areas. It is also perfect for blending out that eyeshadow.

The brushes so far feel sturdy and when washed they do retain their shape. I recommend drying them bristle side down to avoid the glue getting wet and weakening. Even if one of these was to break, I think for £4 for the most expensive brush it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Overall I am really happy with these brushes and how good the quality is. My make-up now looks flawless and is so quick to apply. Such an affordable high street dupe!

Have you tried an Oval brush? What do you think?