The buying process in Bermuda

How do I go about buying a property in Bermuda? 

1. Visit a bank or lending institution and get pre approved for a mortgage.  You do this by making an appointment with a loan officer and providing them accurate information on your income and expenses so that they can work out how much they will lend you. 
2. Choose a realtor  and go and meet with them to discuss what you are looking for, where you would like to live as well as what your needs are and what your wants are.  Make sure you like and trust them. They will be able to give you information of likely properties and help you and save you time by filtering out the properties that look and sound right but don't fit the description of what you are looking for.
3. Once you have visited a property that you like and decide it is the one for you, make a written offer on the property with the help of your realtor.  This is important because it is a record of intent and stops confusion later on. It also clarifies the terms and conditions (not just the amount) under which you intend to purchase the property and here again take the advice of your realtor as to what you should consider including in your offer.
4. Your realtor can provide you with an idea of what the closing costs on your offer will be and these should be calculated with your offer price and fall within your pre-approved mortgage amount.
5. Once your offer is accepted, contracts for the purchase of the property will be drawn up and will be sent to your lawyer for approval and you will be asked to organise a 10% deposit for when you sign the contract.
6. Your lawyer will review the contract details with you and if you are in agreement you will make an appointment to sign the agreement and lodge your deposit.
7. Once both parties have signed the Sale and Purchase Agreement and the purchaser has lodged the deposit you are said to be in contract and neither party can withdraw unless certain conditions are not met.
8. From here it takes about 30 days for a planning search and then you can complete the sale provided all the other conditions are met. Depending on what they are it can take different lengths of time.
9. At completion the mortgage proceeds are sent to your lawyer and then on to the vendors lawyer after any outstanding debts such as Land Tax are paid. The conveyance document is signed by the vendor  and returned to your lawyer completing the sale and you become the new owner of the property.