Purchasing & Selling Freehold Properties

Moving home, they say, can be the most stressful experience that you are likely to encounter throughout your life.  We are here to help you throughout the buying and selling process and this page demonstrates the stages of the process.

Until contracts have been exchanged, either party can pull out of the transaction. Sometimes there are set backs throughout the conveyancing process which means it can take longer than initially expected.

Despite this, the vast majority of conveyancing cases complete successfully and we do everything in our power to ensure that your conveyancing transaction and move proceeds satisfactorily.

What legal work will you be doing for me?

The precise stages involved vary according to the circumstances. However typically we will need to do the following:

Purchasing

• Once an offer is accepted and you have instructed us we will then send you initial documentation, for you to complete and return and ask you to make an initial payment and give you initial advice.

• We will then check finances are in place to fund your purchase and contact the lender’s solicitors if needed.

• The sellers’ solicitors will then send us a draft contract pack and once received, we will begin to order searches on the property you are purchasing.

• We will then raise any necessary enquiries in relation to the property and send them to the seller’s solicitors for them to respond.

• When we are satisfied with the replies to our enquires from the seller’s solicitors, we will then report to you and go through the conditions of your mortgage offer with you.

• You will then receive the final contract for your signature.

• Both parties, at that time will agree to a completion date. This is the date from which you will own the property.

• Exchange will then take place and we will notify you when the solicitors have exchanged contracts. The purchase of the property is now legally binding and you can arrange any necessary removal companies.

• We will then arrange for all monies required to complete your purchase to be received from lender and you (if required).

• On the completion date agreed, we will then complete the purchase and transfer the monies. Once confirmed we will advise you that you now the legal owner of the property and you can arrange to collect the keys.

• After completion we will deal with payment relating to Stamp Duty and apply to the Land Registry to register the property into your name(s).

• Once the Land Registry has registered the property in your name(s) we will then send you the updated Title documentation and any other important documents we hold in relation to the property.

Selling

• Once an offer is accepted and you have instructed us we will then send you initial documentation, for you to complete and return and ask you to make an initial payment and give you initial advice.

• Once we have received the initial fee. We will then prepare the draft contract pack and send this to the purchaser’s solicitors. Once the contract pack has been sent we will then inform you and the estate agents and wait to hear from the purchaser’s solicitors with any enquires they may have in relation to the property you are selling.

• We will reply to any enquiries raised by the purchaser’s solicitors.

• Send final contract to you for signature and agree a completion date.

• When agreed and where possible, we will exchanging contracts and notify you that this has happened.

• On completion day, we will transfer the funds between the relevant parties and redeem any mortgages and or charges on the property. Any surplus funds will then be sent to you by your chosen payment method.

It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would advise you of the stages once we know the specific circumstances of your case.

How long will my house sale/purchase take?

The average process takes between 8 - 12 weeks. However, the length of time from your offer being accepted or accepting an offer to completion will depend on a number of factors. The process can be quicker or slower than this timescale and is dependent on the parties in the ‘chain’.

A ‘chain’ is a list of buyers and sellers all connected together because each person is buying a property from someone and selling a property to another in the ‘chain’ and requires the proceeds of sale to purchase the new property. The ‘chain’ often begins with someone who is only buying and ends with someone who is only selling. You can also have ‘chain’ free properties where the individual selling does not need to buy a property at the same time. e.g. if they are going into rented accommodation.

If you are a first-time buyer, purchasing a new build property (no chain) with a mortgage in principle and the transaction goes smoothly it could take as little as 6 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer and can be between 3 to 6 months if not longer. Another delay example is that we may require information from the management company. The management company often are responsible for the management of the service charge and the delivery of management and maintenance services in the housing development and receiving information frm them could take between 2 to 4 weeks.

Who will be dealing with my matter?

Your conveyancing transaction will be handled by a member of our experienced conveyancing team. Once we know who will be handling your case for you we will introduce you to them and provide you with full contact details. Full details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available on Our Teams section.

Regardless of who is working on your case the matter will be supervised by one of our partners:

Richard Scott

Qualified Solicitor

25 years experience

Commercial & Residential Conveyancing

Alison Street

Licenced Conveyancer

25 years experience

Residential Conveyancing

If one of the above is deal with your case then the other individual will be supervising the matter.

If you would like to receive any further information then please contact us on 01937 832371 or email legal@bjhsolicitors.co.uk.