WHAT WE WILL DO FOR YOU IN THE SALE OF YOUR PROPERTY

This is intended to be a general guide to the work which we shall do for you in connection with your sale and an outline of the steps involved in the conveyancing process. We shall of course give you more detailed advice at each step as your sale progresses.

As a general preliminary point please note that before Contracts regarding your sale are exchanged both you as Seller and your Buyer are free to withdraw from the transaction completely or to try and renegotiate the sale price. Once Contracts have been exchanged the sale Contract is binding on both parties. You as the Seller will be legally bound to sell your property to your Buyer on the completion date stated in the Contract and at the price stated in the Contract. The completion date is usually the moving date for the parties and is the date by which the Seller must fully vacate the property and the date on which the Buyer moves in.

It is important that you do not sign any papers and pass them to your Buyer. All written communications with your Buyer should be through us and your Buyer’s Solicitor/Conveyancer.

Step 1  ON RECEIPT OF NOTIFICATION THAT A SALE HAS BEEN ARRANGED WE SHALL:

If we have not already done so, we will provide you with a quotation setting out details of our charges and the foreseeable expenses associated with your sale, our Terms of Business, our Privacy Policy, and confirmation as to who will be looking after your sale transaction.

    Please see HERE for details of our conveyancers

    We will normally arrange to meet with you in order that we can discuss your transaction with you and any particular requirements which you may have regarding timescales for your sale transaction.

    Please see HERE for details of average timescales.

    We will also deal with formal proof of identity and proof of residence at this meeting.

Please see HERE for details of the sort of documentation which we will need to see.

If the title to your property has not been registered at H M Land Registry will ask you to bring your title deeds to this meeting or confirmation of where your deeds are held.

In all cases we will ask you to bring any documentation which your buyer is likely to wish to see to this meeting e.g. Building Regulation Approvals and Completion Certificates, Electrical Certificates. If the title to your property has been registered at H M Land Registry we will obtain up to date Official Copies of the Register of Title, Title Plan and any documents filed at H M Land Registry which are referred to in the Registers of Title.

If the property you are selling is a flat it is likely that your title to the flat is a leasehold one. We will also obtain a copy of the freehold Registers of Title, freehold Title Plan and the registered Lease.

We will ask you at our meeting to provide us with details of the account to which any net proceeds of sale are to be sent on completion. We prefer to receive your bank details in a face to face meeting to guarantee the security and accuracy of the information received.

We will ask you to complete a Fittings and Contents Form to show which items are to be included or excluded from the sale and a Property Information Form to give basic information about your property. If the property you are selling is a leasehold one (including a leasehold property which is to be sold together with a share in the freehold interest) we will also ask you to complete a Leasehold Information Form this will give the Buyer basic information with regard to management of the building including the identity of the Freeholder/Landlord/ Managing Agent.

We will contact the Solicitor/Conveyancer acting for your Buyer and advise them that we are instructed by you and request confirmation that they have received formal instructions.                                                     

Points for you:

It would be most helpful if you could at an early stage gather together your identity /proof of address documentation, your title deeds if the title to your property in unregistered, and provide us with any documents which the Buyer is likely to wish to see such as Guarantees, Fensa Certificates or similar re replacement windows or doors, Planning Permissions, Building Regulation approvals  and Completion Certificates, certificates in respect of any electrical works or gas installations at your property, boiler service documentation. Please bring everything with you to our first meeting.

If you have a mortgage please provide us with details of your lender and your mortgage account number or roll number.

Please provide us with details of the account to which the net proceeds of sale are to be sent on completion.

Step 2   SUBMISSION OF THE DRAFT CONTRACT

We will send a Contract Pack to your Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers and this will include the draft Contract, copies of your title (and if the title to your property is a leasehold one it will also include the freehold title and the Lease), the forms you have completed and copies of the supporting documentation you have provided.

If you have a mortgage we will ask your Lender to provide us with an illustration of the amount that will be required to repay your mortgage in full.

If the property you are selling is a leasehold one, we will need to ask the freeholder/ Landlord or the freeholder/Landlord’s managing agent to complete an information form about the building and to provide copies of documentation including the insurance policy for the building. The freeholder/ Landlord/managing agent is likely to charge a fee for providing this and we will need to either collect this from you to enable us to make the payment or ask you to make payment to the Freeholder/ Landlord/Managing Agent direct. When we receive the information pack from the Freeholder/Landlord/managing agent we will forward this to your Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers.

If you are selling a leasehold property together with a share in the freehold title it may be necessary for the other owners of the freehold interest to join in a transfer of the freehold title and to formally prove their Identity if they are not separately represented by their own solicitor/ conveyancer. We shall discuss this with you at this stage. If the freehold interest in the building is owned by a Company in which the various flat owners are share holders/ members the procedure is usually more straight forward.

It is fairly common for Buyers Solicitors/Conveyancers to ask questions about the property, or the Contract Pack. When these are received we shall answer them if the appropriate information is to hand. We may need to contact you and ask you for more information before we can answer the questions asked on behalf of your Buyer. With leasehold properties sometimes it is necessary to obtain further information form the Freeholder/Landlord/Managing Agent.

Sometimes a Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers will request alterations to the draft Contract. We shall report to you if any unreasonable alterations are requested.

STEP 3   PREPARING FOR EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS

Once the form of the Contract is agreed we shall either provide this to you together with an explanation and request you to sign the Contract in readiness for exchange or arrange to meet with you to go through the Contract with you and so that you can sign the same in readiness for exchange. We will ask you to confirm details of your bank/ building society account to which you wish any net proceeds of sale to be sent on completion.

If the title to the property you are selling is a leasehold one it may be a requirement of your lease that the formal consent of the Freeholder/Landlord is obtained before the property can be sold. We will liaise with the Buyer’s solicitors and the Freeholder/ Landlord/Managing Agent to ensure that all requirements in the Lease for obtaining consent are complied with.

We shall ask you to advise us of any preferred dates/dates to be avoided for completion/ moving.

We shall agree a completion date in principle with the Buyers Solicitors/Conveyancers ensuring the same is acceptable to you.

Points for you:

Please double check that there have been no changes in any information which you have provided in relation to your sale either in the forms which you completed or in any other information provided by you during the transaction. If there have been any changes it is most important that you notify us of such prior to exchange of contracts.

Please check that your chosen removal firm will be available on the proposed completion date and make a provisional booking.

STEP 4    EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS

These days contracts are usually exchanged during a telephone conversation between the Seller’s Solicitor and the Buyers Solicitor/Conveyancer. This is not as casual as it sounds and a very formal procedure is adopted. The time at which exchange takes place is recorded and written on the Contract and the completion date is inserted. It is at the instant that Contracts are exchanged that the contract becomes binding on the parties.

We shall send the Contract that you have signed to the Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers and they will send the part which has been signed by the Buyer to us usually together with the deposit monies. (The deposit is usually between 5% and 10% of the sale price. We will have to hold on to these monies until completion and will not be able to release the monies to you until completion has taken place although if you are buying a property as well as selling we will usually be able to use the exchange deposit received on your sale to provide the exchange deposit to be used in your purchase transaction.

We shall advise you and your selling agent that exchange has taken place.

 Points for you:

Please confirm your removal arrangements with your removers, if needed please book time of work for your move.

STEP 5       PREPARING FOR COMPLETION

Traditionally it is the Buyer’s Solicitor/Conveyancer who prepares the Transfer. On receipt of the Transfer we will check this and provide details to the Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers regarding the completion arrangements.

Once the form of the Transfer has been agreed we shall arrange for you to sign the Transfer in readiness for completion (In practice we often arrange for you to sign the sale Transfer at the same time you sing your Contract)

We shall ask your selling agent to forward their commission account

Often at this stage we shall prepare a completion statement and our invoice and forward the same to you and if funds will be due to you on completion we shall take your instructions with regard to payment to you.

Points for you:

Please arrange for final meter readings to be made on the day of your move and for final accounts to be prepared for Gas, Electricity, Telephone, Water supply and drainage, Council Tax etc. You may care to arrange for the redirection of your post.

Please do not cancel your buildings insurance until after completion has taken place.

STEP 6     COMPLETION – THE MOVING DAY

The Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers will send to us the balance of the sale monies – usually by same day electronic transfer of funds.

On receipt of funds we shall of course try to contact you immediately to advise you the funds have been received.

We shall contact your selling agents to advise them also so that keys may be released to your buyer when appropriate.

If you have a mortgage we will arrange for the repayment of the mortgage on the day of completion

We will arrange for the payment of any monies due to you

We shall send the Transfer document together with any Guarantees etc. to the Buyer’s Solicitors/Conveyancers.

Points for you:

The completion date is the date by which you will need to move out of the property and give your Buyer “vacant possession”. The property should be left in a clean and tidy condition with everything which is not included in the sale removed from all areas - including any loft, garage, outbuildings or sheds. Please arrange for a key to be left with your estate agents and do not release keys to your Buyers without checking with us that the sale monies have been received.

After completion has taken place please cancel your buildings insurance arrangements for the property and update your contents insurance arrangements.

We will try to keep you fully updated throughout your Sale. Usually we will send you text messages and emails or telephone you upon developments to keep you fully in the picture as swiftly as possible. However we hope that you will not hesitate to contact us if you would like any further information or explanation. We try to avoid the use of legal jargon as much as possible but sometimes it is not possible to completely avoid some technical terms.

Most of our clients prefer to receive communications from us electronically. If you would prefer to receive hard copy letters by post please let us know.

If there is anything you do not understand in anything you receive from us or if there is anything about which you would like a further explanation please let us know and we will be happy to advise you further.

We try and arrange our diaries so that when you phone you will get through to either Helen or Ian directly. If Ian is dealing with your matter and is not available when you call Helen will try and assist you if she can. If not, she will arrange for Ian to contact you. Similarly if Helen is dealing with your matter and is not available when you call Ian will try and assist you or he will arrange for Helen to contact you.

If you telephone us and do not get a reply please leave a message on our answer service or else we will not know that you have called. We aim to respond to emails and messages left on our answer service within one working day.

We provide a service to your door and will call upon you by arrangement when meetings are required. We hope that you will find this level of personal service a very convenient way of conducting the legal side of your move.