Q: I am interested in buying a property for a buy-to-let investment at auction. Are there any legal issues I should be aware of?

A: Once the auctioneer's hammer has gone down you have entered into an exchange of contracts, committing you to complete the purchase of the property, usually four weeks later. Therefore it is vital that you do your homework in advance.

The seller's solicitor will have prepared all relevant searches and standard information about the property and you are deemed as having accepted that information when you exchange. You are, however, approaching the transaction from a different angle and need to take extra care so that you are not involving yourself in a lot of additional, unforeseen expense after you have completed your purchase.

Make sure that you couple the information given with your physical inspection of the property. If the windows look new, for example, you should check the information given about when the replacements were installed. If that was after April 2002, a FENSA certificate or building regulation consent should be available in the paperwork produced.

Life may be simpler if the property in question is or has been tenanted, as certificates relating to gas and electricity safety inspections may be to hand.

Otherwise, unless you are planning to rip out all appliances and start again, you will need to be sure that any appliances are in a safe condition.

It is very important that you undertake a physical survey before you get involved in bidding for this property since as a landlord, there will be a duty of care on you to make sure that the property and the fixtures and appliances are in a safe condition. If the property is sold with furnishings, these will need to comply with the Furniture and Furnishings (fire safety) Regulations 1988, or they will be of little use to you.