Buyer guide
What happens after your offer is accepted?
An accepted offer is the start of the process, not the finish. Until contracts are exchanged, nothing is binding and either side can still walk away. Knowing the full sequence helps you keep things moving, spot when something has stalled, and avoid nasty surprises in the weeks ahead.
Sale agreed, nothing binding yet
When the agent confirms your offer is accepted, the property is marked sale agreed and usually taken off active marketing. In England and Wales this is not legally binding on anyone. Either party can change their mind, renegotiate, or pull out right up until exchange of contracts, which is often weeks away. That is why the sensible goal from this moment is to reach exchange as quickly as is realistic, since the longer the gap, the more time there is for something to go wrong or for a competing buyer to reappear.
Instruct your solicitor and lender
Your first two moves are to instruct a conveyancer and to put your full mortgage application in. If you already have a mortgage in principle and conveyancing quotes ready, both can begin within days rather than weeks. The agent will issue a memorandum of sale to both solicitors confirming the agreed price, the parties, and any conditions. The sooner the legal and lending work begins in parallel, the sooner you reach exchange, so treat the first week after acceptance as the one where momentum is won or lost.
Survey and mortgage valuation
The lender carries out its own valuation to confirm the property supports the loan it is offering. Separately, and just as importantly, you should book your own homebuyer survey to check the condition of the building. These are two different things with different purposes. If your survey finds significant problems, or the lender's valuation comes in below the agreed price, this is the right point to pause and renegotiate with evidence, rather than discovering the issue once you are emotionally and financially committed.
Searches and enquiries
Your solicitor orders local authority and other searches and raises enquiries with the seller's solicitor on anything unclear in the contract, the title, or the seller's information forms. This is the slowest phase for most purchases, because it depends on councils and the other side replying at their own pace. You will be asked to review the search results and the responses, and to confirm you are happy, before the transaction can move towards signing. Reading these carefully is worth the time, as they can reveal restrictions, disputes, or planning issues.
Mortgage offer and signing
Once the lender is satisfied with the valuation and your circumstances, it issues a formal mortgage offer, which is its firm commitment to lend on agreed terms. Your solicitor then reports to you on the legal position in plain terms, you sign the contract, and you transfer the deposit, usually 10 percent of the price, to your solicitor ready for exchange. None of this is binding yet, so there is still room to ask final questions, but you should be close to certain by the time you sign.
Exchange and completion
At exchange of contracts, the two solicitors swap signed contracts and the sale becomes legally binding, with a completion date written in. From this point, pulling out means losing your deposit and facing possible further costs, so exchange is the moment the deal becomes real. Completion is the day the balance of the money moves, ownership formally transfers, and you collect the keys. The gap between exchange and completion is often one to two weeks, though it can be the same day if everyone agrees and the chain allows it.
If it falls through
Sales do collapse before exchange, often because of a chain break, a failed mortgage, or a survey problem that cannot be resolved. If that happens, you may have already paid for a survey, searches, and some legal work, and those costs are usually not recoverable. You can reduce the risk by choosing a proceedable chain, keeping your own paperwork ready, and not delaying the steps that are within your control. Some buyers also consider home buyer protection insurance, though weigh the premium against the modest sums usually at stake.
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