The Conveyancing Process
For both a sale and purchase, the conveyancing process can be divided into 3 main stages:- Offer Accepted
- Contracts Exchanged
- Completion
Selling Your Property
Offer Accepted
You may have instructed an estate agent, negotiated on the price and have now accepted an offer. At this stage, you will need to instruct a conveyancer to start the conveyancing process to allow the sale to progress quickly and efficiently. You will be required to complete a number of detailed questionnaires about the property: –- Property Information form: This will include details about the property boundaries, disputes or complaints (yours or a nearby property), notices or proposals (like new building developments), alterations to the property, any guarantees or warranties, building insurance claims, environmental matters, rights of way and services and utilities;
- A fittings and contents form: List which items are included with the sale;
- If it’s a leasehold property there’ll be an extra form with details including ground rent and management company.
- The completion date (usually 7-28 days after the exchange of contracts);
- What will be included in the sale price;
- How much the buyer will pay for other fixtures and fittings;
- Who will deal with issues raised by the buyer’s surveyor.
Contracts Exchanged
This is usually done over the phone by both conveyancers for the seller and the buyer by making sure the contracts are identical, and then immediately sending them to one another in the post. The buyer sends the agreed deposit. You are committed to selling the property and a completion date is set.Sale Completed
Your conveyancer will receive the outstanding balance of the sale price, hand over the legal documents that prove ownership and pay off any mortgage and other related costs agreed with the proceeds of the sale. You will hand over the keys to your estate agent for collection by the buyer.Buying A Property
Offer Accepted
Your conveyancer will help you make sense of the documents that the seller’s solicitor sends them – these include the draft contract, the property information form and other supporting documentation. If you’re buying a leasehold property, your conveyancer will also check the lease details. Your conveyancer will carry out legal searches for the property. These searches will be recommended by the conveyancer and others may be required. These can include:- Local authority searches: Is a motorway going to be built outside the property?
- Land Registry register, title and plan search – these are the legal documents proving the seller’s ownership of the property;
- Water authority searches – this shows how you get your water and if drains run into public or private sewers and what drains run through the property;
- Environmental Search – the report will provide information about contaminated land at or around the property, detailing flooding predictions and other related information;
- Extra searches may be required or recommended depending on the property location or the type of property or concerns raised by the buyer.
