Conveyancing Guide

The Initial Work – Instructions

Once an offer has been made on a property and accepted, contact us for a quote. You will need to provide your contact details and details of the transaction taking place. Further information will be sought from the Estate Agent where appropriate. We will open a file and we will liaise with the solicitors on the other side of the transaction.

The Initial Work – Quotation

Your quotation will show the Conveyancing fees together with the VAT charged and the appropriate Search and Land Registry Fees. It is now necessary to register all Purchases at HM Land Registry and the Land Registry fee shown on your quotation is for this purpose.

The Initial Work – Searches

All properties that are being advertised on the open market must have a Home Information Pack (HIP), which contains a large amount of information regarding the property. The HIP will be provided by the seller and will be accessible to the purchaser at no extra cost.

There are additional searches, which may be required such as mining searches and environmental searches, which a buyer will obtain when necessary.  Contact us to discuss whether your property will require these searches.

The Initial Work – Land Registry Search

This Search is carried out immediately prior to the completion of your purchase to ensure that there have been no mortgages or notices registered against the property you are buying.

Your Purchase – The Contract

The contract will be obtained from the sellers solicitors.

We will then carry out appropriate searches on the property and raise any enquiries that may be appropriate to ensure that property title is satisfactory.

Your Purchase – Property Information Forms

Property Information and Fixtures and Fittings forms will be provided by the sellers solicitors and will reveal further information regarding the property. In particular they will identify the items the sellers will be leaving in the property.

Your Purchase – Mortgage

If you require a mortgage you will need to complete a mortgage application with your lender. The lender will then carry out a survey on the property. You will also need to arrange buildings insurance in relation to the property as it mayl be a condition of your mortgage offer that this is in place. Buildings Insurance will need to be in place from Exchange of Contract.

Your Purchase – Survey

The survey carried out by your lender is for valuation purposes only. You may wish to have more detailed survey carried out independently.

Your Purchase – Signing the Contracts

Upon completing investigations, we will send you a property report outlining the results of our investigations. We will also send you the contract and transfer deed for you to sign and return.

Your Purchase – Exchange of Contracts

Once we receive the signed documents from you, we will discuss completion dates with the sellers solicitors. Once a completion date has been agreed, contracts can be exchanged.

Exchange of Contracts is the stage at which the transaction becomes legally binding. The Completion Date is inserted in the Contract and this date is also binding. The Completion Date is when the property legally becomes yours.

Your Purchase – Completion

On the day of completion, your mortgage lender will send your mortgage funds to us to allow us to complete the transaction. You will also have provided us with any balancing monies before the completion date.

The completion monies will then be sent to the sellers solicitors through the CHAPS system. This means it will be telegraphically transferred between the buyers and sellers solicitors. This will often incur a telegraphic transfer fee.

Your Purchase – Keys

The keys will be provided on the day of completion. You can either arrange with the sellers to collect them directly or you may collect them from the sellers estate agents.

Your Purchase – Registration

Upon completion, we will arrange to pay stamp duty and land registration fees. We will send all the appropriate documents to the Land Registry to register you as the new owners of the property.

Your Sale – Property Information Forms & Deeds

You will be required to complete property information and fixtures and fittings forms to provide the buyer with information regarding the property. At this stage, you should also send your solicitors any miscellaneous documents which you may hold that relate to the property such as planning permissions, building regulations certificates and past conveyances.

Your Purchase – Home Information Pack

If you are marketing the property on the open market you no longer need a home information pack but the seller is still required to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate.

Your Purchase – The Contract

Upon receipt of the information forms, we will draft contracts, which will be sent to the buyers solicitors for approval.

Your Purchase – Enquiries

The buyers solicitors may raise enquiries to clarify some information about the property. We will answer these enquiries with reference to you. We will then send you the contracts and transfer deed for signature.

Your Purchase – Exchange of Contracts

When both parties are ready and a completion date has been agreed, Contracts will be exchanged. This is the stage at which your Sale becomes legally binding.

Your Purchase – Completion

On the day of completion, the buyer will send funds to us via their solicitors. We will arrange to pay any estate agents commission.

Upon receipt of funds from the buyers’ solicitors, you will need to hand over the keys to either your estate agent or the buyer directly.

Your Purchase – Mortgage Redemption

On the day of completion we will arrange to redeem your mortgage from the sale proceeds. This will be done by telegraphic transfer through the CHAPS system. Any remaining funds will then be return to you.