Selling a property can be a stressful and conveyancing can really contribute to that. It can seem like the whole process is taking far too long, and even when you consult with your conveyancer, some of the terminology can be unclear.
Hopefully this guide to the conveyancing side of selling a property can help enlighten you and put your mind at ease over your conveyancer.
Initial Letter
Within a couple of days you should have received a letter from your conveyancer containing:
- Their Terms and Conditions
- A form giving your name and mortgage account number so they can get hold of your title deeds.
- The Pre-Contract Enquiries, where you give basic details of your property that will be required by the buyer when one is found
- The Fixtures Fittings and Contents List, where you write down the items that you are including in the sale.
- You will also be asked to give your conveyancer details of the planning permissions and building regulation consents that have been granted for the property.
Sellers Pack
The next step is for your conveyancer to prepare the Sellers Pack for you. Get this ready when you start selling a property, as by having this ready, you can act quickly when you do find a buyer. The Sellers Pack includes:
- Your title deeds, which your mortgagee holds
- Your Fixture, Fittings & Contents List
- Aa redemption statement, showing how much needs to be paid to the mortgagee
- Any documentation that will enable them to answer questions put to them by the buyer’s conveyancers.
Getting this put together in good time can save weeks of messing around, so it is really important. Look for a conveyancer who offers a no sale no fee package, so you don’t get stung for the costs of a conveyancer putting the Sellers Pack together if a sale doesn’t successfully go through.
When you have found a buyer
Once you and the Estate Agent acting for your have negotiated a price you are happy with for your property, they will give your conveyancers a Memorandum of Sale, which confirm:
- The address of the property
- The price agreed
- The details of the buyer and seller, and their conveyancers
Once your conveyancer has the Memorandum of Sale, they will request your Official Copies from the Land Registry, which are copies of your property’s Title Deeds. They show the current status of your property in terms of mortgages on it and any rights held over it by the owner or any third parties, and within a couple of days, your conveyancer should be able to give the buyer’s conveyancers:
- The Official Copies
- A draft Contract that sets out the basis of the transaction, which will be negotiated over between the buyer, seller and their conveyancers
- Responses to the Pre-Contract Enquiries
- Your Fixtures Fittings & Contents List
- Details of planning permissions that apply to the property
It can take quite some time, but when the buyer has everything they need, including their mortgage offer and the results of all their conveyancers’ searches, your conveyancer will ask you to sign:
- The Contract
- The Transfer document, which transfers the property to the buyer
Exchange of Contracts
This is, in many ways, the most important stage of the conveyancing process. It legally commits you to selling a property and the buyer to buying it. The contract gives details of:
- The seller and buyer
- The property
- The sale price
- The Completion Date, which is the date the sale goes through and the buyer becomes the property owner.
Completion
Providing everything goes as it should, when the Completion Date comes around, the keys to your property should be left with the Estate Agent, who will release them to the buyer when the conveyancer has received the money from the buyer.
As well as receiving the money and giving up the keys, your conveyancer will also:
- Send the Title Deeds to the buyer’s conveyancer
- Repay your mortgage on the property
- Pay your Estate Agent
- Give you a statement showing any money you owe them or they owe you.
What happens afterwards?
For a couple of months after the property changes hands your conveyancer will be tying up loose ends. They will receive discharge documents from your mortgagee and pass it on to the buyer’s conveyancer. Once this is done, the conveyancing process is over.
