taking the confusionout of theprocess

Buying a home can be exciting but with all the housing jargon prospective buyers are exposed to it can easily turn into a frustrating experience.

Recent figures show over 40% of people looking into buying a home say that jargon confuses them. With this in mind the National Association of Estate Agents has released a jargon busting list to assist house hunters:

Chain: this refers to the sequence of buyers and sellers. Because most sellers are also buyers there can often be a chain of people waiting on each other. If for instance a buyer or seller drops out the chain can collapse and the purchasing of a home can be cancelled or delayed

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Completion date: when the transaction is complete and ownership of the property passes from seller to the buyer

Conveyancing: managed by a solicitor or qualified conveyancer, this is the legal process where all the issues arising from the sale or purchase of a house is taken care of and ownership of a property in transferred

Disbursements: payments made by your solicitor to other people on your behalf, such as stamp duty, land registry charges and search fees

Exchange of contracts: the point both parties are committed to the transaction, before contracts are exchanged the buyer and seller can walk away at any time

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Freehold: ownership of the land and any property that stands on it

Leasehold: ownership of property for a certain length of time. This is common for flats and maisonettes and usually involves payment of ground rent and maintenance charges. 
When the lease expires, ownership of the property returns to the freeholder

Building survey: a report into the physical state of the property, also sometimes referred to as a full structural survey