THE CONVEYANCING PROCESS

When you buy, sell or remortgage a property, you are advised to use a Solicitor to look after your interests and deal with the complex paperwork.

Your Solicitor will take care that all the legal conditions and obligations are met, and that the new mortgage goes into place without problems. He/She will also act on behalf of your current lender, making sure your existing mortgage is repaid (if you are not a first time buyer).

During the conveyance, you will be told what is happening, what you have to do next and be given a number of documents to sign and return allowing the next stage to go ahead. It is important to respond to any requests promptly, so that you do not delay the whole process. It is not unusual for a chain of home movers to be all lined up and ready to go, only to then discover that one of them is guilty of not dealing with a request to act on something, and the whole process grinds to a sudden halt. Don’t let it be you. A break in the chain is unpleasant and stressful for all concerned and can easily be avoided by good and open communication at all times.

SELLING:

• We will send you a quote enclosing a form that asks for your mortgage account number and details of your building society. We will obtain your HIP from the provider if we have not carried out the HIP. We will then apply to the building society for the deeds to your property or, if you don’t have a mortgage, request that you deliver the deeds.
• You will be sent a property information form and fixtures and fittings to fill in giving your personal details so that questions that are asked by the buyers solicitors may be answered.
• We will prepare draft contracts and send to the purchasers solicitor along with your forms.
• The buyer’s solicitor may require some additional information from you. It may be that answers you completed on the property information form require more detail or that the results of their searches have prompted additional questions. At this stage, we may need to obtain the additional information from outside sources, such as the local authority or insurance company.
• When all the information is available, we will make sure that the buyer’s solicitor receives everything that they require.
• When the buyer’s solicitor is happy with all the information they will send back the draft Contract approved, ready for you to sign.
• We will arrange for you to sign the contract as soon as possible. If there is a dependant purchase we will make sure that the two transactions are tied in.
• On exchange of contracts, we will ask the buyers to pay a deposit of between 5% and 10% of the sale price. Although the money is not expected before exchange, the buyer’s solicitor will need to confirm that he has the funds ready to.
• Completion is the point at which the buyer pays for the property and it changes hands. The date needs to be agreed before exchange of contracts can take place.
• When you have signed your contract and (if relevant) your proposed purchase is ready, your solicitor will inform the buyer’s solicitor that you are ready to exchange contracts.
• Once contracts have been exchanged, you and the buyers are legally committed to buy/sell the property in question. Failure to do so at this stage will result in the party at fault being in breach of contract.
• The agreed completion date is the date upon which you must give vacant possession and the buyer can take up occupation, having first paid the balance of the purchase price. Failure to complete will result in the party at fault being in breach of contract.
• In a sale or purchase there are three stages:
• Before exchange of contracts
• Nothing is legally binding on either side and, generally speaking, there is no refund for a wasted survey, search fees and legal costs if the sale falls through.
• Between exchange of contracts and completion
• Both sellers and buyers are legally bound to complete on an agreed completion date.
• On completion day
• Monies change hands through the Solicitors, deeds are handed over, sellers move out and buyers move in.

Charlie Virgo can be contacted on 01273 734 600 or by email on property@crosbymooresolicitors.co.uk