GUIDE TO SELLING AND
BUYING A RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY
SELLING A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Signing your contract
Once you have received and accepted an offer on your property
you will need to instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf.
Once the contract has been approved by your buyer’s
solicitor you will be contacted by your solicitor to sign it in
readiness for exchange.
Once you have a solicitor in place you will need to advise the
estate agents of their details so the memorandum of sale can
be produced.
Once the memorandum of sale has been issued to all parties
your solicitor will prepare the contract pack as follows:
Legal Work prior to contracting to sell
Your solicitor will require that you complete copies of the
‘Property Information Form’ and the ‘Fixtures, Fittings and
Contents Form’. These are standard forms which seller’s
are required to complete. If your property is leasehold
you will also need to complete a ‘Seller’s Leasehold
Information Form’.
Once your solicitor has obtained the title deeds and you
have returned the standard forms these are sent to your
buyer’s solicitor for approval together with a supporting
package which will include documents dealing with title,
planning and any guarantees that are applicable.
If the property that you are selling is leasehold your
solicitor will receive a standard managing agents
questionnaire from the buyer’s solicitors which is sent
on to relevant landlord/managing agents/residents
association.
Once your buyer’s solicitor has examined this paperwork
they may need to seek clarification on certain points. They
are entitled to raise enquiries with your solicitor who
may need to liaise with you to provide the information
requested.
The buyer is entitled to rely upon any information that is
supplied on your behalf so it is important that information
supplied to your solicitor is accurate and that you make a
full disclosure of any relevant facts about your property.
Your mortgage
Your lender will supply an up to date statement to your
solicitor detailing the amount which is required to repay
your mortgage.
You should provide your solicitor with details of all loans
secured against your property as these will need to be
repaid upon completion of your sale.
Exchange of contracts
Before an exchange can take place all the parties involved
need to agree on a completion date. From the point at
which contracts are exchanged you are legally bound
to sell and your buyer is legally bound to buy. Should
either party back out the other will be entitled to claim
compensation for losses arising.
Between exchange and completion
Your solicitor will send you a statement detailing their
charges, loans to be repaid and all other outgoings. Any
balance due to your solicitor will need to be cleared in their
account prior to the completion date. You will be required
to sign a transfer of deed in readiness for completion.
On completion
Your solicitor will pay off any mortgages and other
expenses, give an undertaking to your buyer’s solicitor to
send your lender’s formal release of mortgage and send
the title deeds and signed transfer to your buyer’s solicitor.
Once your solicitor has confirmed that all the remaining
monies have arrived your sale has completed. You should
arrange to drop off the keys with the agent for the buyer to
collect.
BUYING A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Once the seller has accepted your offer
• Your instructed conveyancer will contact the seller’s
solicitor to obtain the draft contract.
• Your conveyancer will negotiate the draft contract, taking
into account your requirements.
• The copy of the draft contract; fixtures, fittings and contents
form; a property information form and - if applicable copies of previous title deeds will be checked and approved.
• Your conveyancer will check the legal title and contract and
papers and raise any enquiries they feel are necessary. A
draft transfer deed and requisitions on title will be sent to
the seller’s solicitors for their approval at this time.
• Your conveyancer will negotiate and agree the contract with
the seller’s solicitors and request any amendments they
feel are necessary.
Enquiries to seller’s solicitors can include, boundary
issues, planning constraints and permissions, rights of way,
restrictive covenants affecting the property, guarantees or
insurance policies, services connected to the property and
details of the list of fixtures and fittings included in the sale. If
the property is leasehold landlords and management company
enquiries will be raised at this time.
Your conveyancer will also request searches which may
include:
• Local Authority Searches
Once your conveyancer has received satisfactory replies to
enquiries, has received clear search results and has satisfied all
mortgage conditions the final report will be prepared. The final
report will cover all aspects of your property purchase and will
include copies of enquiries raised and responses received.
The report will also contain all documents you are required
to sign and will also have a completion statement enclosed
showing the balance required from you in order to complete
the purchase.
Once you have signed and returned all the documents
and have transferred the required balance monies to the
conveyancer’s nominated bank we will be ready to exchange
contracts and set a completion date with the seller’s solicitors.
• Exchange of contracts is when your purchase becomes
legally binding and the agreed completion date is ‘set is
stone’.
• Deposit is also paid to the seller’s solicitors at this point.
• Once exchange of contracts has taken place your
conveyancer will then request your mortgage advance from
your lender.
• Your conveyancer will carry out final searches and enquiries
including Land Registry checks and land charges checks.
YOU ARE READY TO COMPLETE
• You will get the keys to your new home.
• Drainage searches
• Your conveyancer will tie up any final administration issues
with the Land Registry.
• Coal/Mining searches
You can now move in!
• Environmental searches
• Commons search
If your property is a new build there may be other checks we
need to undertake.
Your conveyancer will negotiate and agree the contract with
the seller’s solicitors. A formal mortgage offer should now
be in place and the conveyancer will check that all mortgage
conditions have been satisfied.
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