A seller’s guide to conveyancing

The start of the process

Property information forms and other documentation

Once a buyer’s offer has been accepted, he will want to obtain more information about the property.  We will send you the standard property information forms to complete.  These forms contain questions regarding your knowledge about the property, such as boundaries, whether you have made any alterations to the property and utility providers.

We will also ask you for originals or copies of other documents relating to your property such as planning permissions, building regulation approvals, NHBC certificates and any guarantees.  Copies will be sent to your buyer’s solicitors at this stage as the buyer will want to ensure that all necessary documentation is in place.

If the property you are selling is leasehold (which will always be the case if you are selling a flat) your buyer will require extra information.  We will ask you to fill out a separate leasehold property information form and to provide information and documentation relating to ground rent and service charges (if any) so that we may forward this on to your buyer’s solicitors.

Title deeds

If your property is subject to a mortgage, and your mortgage lender is holding the deeds for you, we will obtain the title deeds directly from the lender.  You will need to provide us with their name and address and your mortgage account number.  In some cases, you may need to write to the bank authorising them to release the deeds to us.

If there is no mortgage it is likely that you will have the deeds at home or will have lodged them with a bank or building society or another firm of solicitors for safekeeping.  We will need you to bring/send them to us or to make arrangements for the relevant third party to send the deeds to us.

We will also obtain any current Land Registry copies of your deeds from the Land Registry.

We will also get an initial redemption statement from your lender, which will put your lender on notice of your intended redemption and sale.  The redemption statement is a statement issued by the mortgage lender stating the amount required to pay off the mortgage (including interest) based on an anticipated completion date of one or two months later.  If you are aware that an early redemption penalty is applicable to your mortgage you should let us have details as this may affect the timing of the transaction.

We will send you a copy of the redemption statement for your information; however, you should note that the figure is likely to change once a confirmed date for completion is in place.

Drafting the contract

We prepare a draft contract for the sale of the property and send it to the buyer’s solicitors together with the property information forms and copies of the relevant deeds and documents.

When your buyer’s solicitors have agreed the contract we will arrange for you to sign it and ask for your instructions on a completion date.  When we have received the signed contract and your instructions regarding the completion date we will be ready to exchange contracts with your buyer.

Agreeing the completion date

The completion date is not fixed until exchange takes place and it is written into the contract.  It is usually 2-3 weeks after exchange but can be any working day that you and your buyer agree on. You also have the option of exchanging and completing on the same day, if this suits all the parties in the chain.

Deposit

Traditionally a buyer will pay the seller a 10% deposit, although it is common for buyers to offer smaller deposits in which case we will need your instructions as to whether or not you will accept this.

The deposit is for your benefit.  Its purpose is to compensate you in the event that your buyer fails to complete the transaction.  If the buyer fails to complete after notice has been given to him you will, generally speaking, be entitled to keep the deposit and re-sell the property.  We can help you to make an informed decision as to whether or not to accept a reduced deposit.

Replies to additional enquiries

We deal with any additional enquiries raised by your buyer’s solicitors; and will usually require you to assist with your first hand knowledge of the property.

Exchange of contracts

Contracts are exchanged and a date is fixed for completion.  From this point onwards both you and your buyer have a contractual obligation to complete the transaction.

Steps between exchange and completion

Transfer deed

The transfer deed is the document which, on completion, transfers legal ownership of the property to your buyer.  The transfer deed is prepared by the buyer’s solicitors and, once we have approved it, we will arrange for you to sign it before the completion date.

Final redemption statement

We will apply to your mortgage lender for a final redemption statement based on the actual completion date.

Completion statement

We will send you a completion statement specifying the income and expenditure involved in the whole transaction and this will let you know the final amount that will be due to you on completion.

Completion of the transaction

You will need to move out of the property on or before the completion date and your buyer will be entitled to move in once we receive the purchase money from his solicitors.  We will call the estate agents to instruct them to release the keys to your buyer.  If you have a mortgage this will be repaid on completion out of the sale proceeds.