Selling Box
Our highly skilled residential property lawyers offer private individuals and families the very best advice on a wide range of residential property issues.
We can help you deal with everything from Home Survey findings to environmental search issues and other important legal requirements of this ever changing and increasingly regulated area.
To help you understand the basics here are a few frequently asked questions by clients when selling property, within our House selling guide, which helps provide a clear Conveyancing guide.
Selling a Property – What Do I Need To Do?
You need to contact us as soon as possible. If you have a mortgage, we need your account number to enable us to contact your mortgage lender to obtain any documents held by them. We also need the full property address to obtain H M Land Registry Official Copy Entries. When we receive the required documents, we will prepare a contract to send to your buyers’ lawyer. We will send you a Property Information Form and Fixtures, Fittings and Contents List to complete. The Property Information Form gives details about the property which the buyer will need to know. The Fixtures, Fittings and Contents List sets out which items you are leaving at the property and which items you are taking, e.g., carpets and curtains.
What Documents Do I Have to Sign?
When you are selling a property, you only have to sign the sale contract and the transfer. If you are also buying a property you must sign your purchase contract, and the mortgage deed. We will ask you to come to see us to sign all your papers. Mortgage deeds usually have to be signed in the presence of a lawyer. We will also ask you to bring some form of identification, e.g., your passport, as mortgage lenders require that we check your ID on their behalf.
What is Meant by ‘Exchange of Contracts’?
Exchange of contracts means the transaction has become binding. The buyer pays a deposit, usually 10% of the price, but it can be less if the buyer is obtaining a mortgage of more than 90% of the price. On exchange of contracts, the completion date (moving date) is confirmed and cannot be altered. Contracts are exchanged between lawyers on the telephone. You do not need to be present for us to exchange contracts.
What is meant by ‘Completion’?
On completion, the buyer’s lawyers send the seller’s lawyers the money needed to complete the purchase. You will need to vacate the property and remove all your belongings (including any rubbish) except anything which the buyer has agreed can remain.
We will pay off your mortgage when we receive the money from the buyer’s lawyer. When the money has been received (but not before) we will authorise release of the keys.
How Long Will it Take?
Each transaction is different but the national average is 6-10 weeks. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain. Unfortunately, the timescale is often governed by the slowest party in the chain. We will ensure that we are not the weak link in that chain and will do all that we can to progress the transaction as quickly as possible.
What is a Conveyancing ‘Chain’?
To avoid the risk and cost of owning two properties people usually decide to buy and sell simultaneously. A number of linked transactions therefore arise, each dependent on the other and exchange of contracts must take place at the same time in all transactions.
