Generally speaking, selling a house is slightly less involved than buying one – that is unless you are in a chain of course and need to offload your current home in order to purchase a new one.
That doesn’t mean the conveyancing process for selling a house is necessarily less stressful. So we have put this simple guide together to help you stay on top of the process, and keep from pulling your hair out.
Step by step conveyancing Guide – Selling a house
1. Decide you’re selling a house
Don’t worry, we’re not going to go into this much detail for the whole guide. But we put this first because as soon as you make the decision you should look for a conveyancing service. Having one on standby will not cost you extra.
What you should do:
- Read our guide to finding good conveyancing
- Contact any conveyers you have had a good experience with, find out if friends and family have had good experiences, or search for websites where conveyancing is discussed impartially.
- Get at least three quotes
What your conveyancer should do:
- Put together a clear quote
- Be prepared to discuss any questions you have – communication is key
2. Instruct a conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor
Once you are happy with the cost and service provided, get someone secured. You can go some of the way along the conveyancing process before you even get an offer.
3. Get as much sorted as possible.
When selling a house, get as much information as possible together before accepting an offer to save time, this is especially important when selling a leasehold
One of the biggest mistakes people make when selling a house is waiting for an acceptable offer before starting the conveyancing process. Get as much done as you can beforehand. The quicker the conveyancing the more likely the sale will go through. When selling a house, time really is money.
What your conveyancer should do:
- Send a client care letter
- Send fixtures and fittings forms
- Send a property information form
- If necessary, send a leasehold information form
What you should do:
- Sign the letter and provide ID like a passport
- Provide details of your current mortgage arrangement
- Fill in the forms as best you can – don’t be afraid to ask if you’re stuck
- Send them any documents like planning permissions, guarantees, certifications
What your conveyancer should then do:
- Get your Title Deeds from your mortgage lender
- Get your Land Registry documentation
- Contact your building’s managing agents if you have a leasehold to ask for:
- A copy of the lease
- Service charge accounts for the last three years
- The estimated service charge for the year
- A copy of the building insurance
4. Accept an offer
Your estate agent will have put a price on your property but only you will know what makes an acceptable offer when selling a house. Once someone offers an amount you will take, accept and let your conveyancer know.
What your conveyancer should do:
- Draw up a draft contract and negotiate it with your buyer’s conveyancer
- Be happy to deal with any questions you may have over the contract
- Secure confirmation that the buyer’s mortgage application has been agreed
- Liaise with you to decide the best completion date and have this stated on the contract
- Get the buyer’s agreement to the date
- Send you the final contract
What you should do:
- Not be afraid to ask questions
- Give a realistic completion date, bearing in mind any chains you are involved in and the logistics of moving out
- Sign the contract
5. Exchange contracts
Selling a house: when you exchange contracts you are committed to the transaction, backing out could lead to financial losses so make sure you are happy to proceed
This is when selling a house gets real. Before this point the buyer can back out, but now both parties are committed to the transaction and could be penalised if they don’t fulfill their end of the bargain.
What your conveyancer should do:
- Exchange contracts with the buyer’s conveyancer
- Take the buyer’s deposit and hold it on account
- Get a statement from your mortgage lender to be sure what they need to transfer once the sale goes through
What you should do:
- Make sure everything is in place for you to move out
6. Sign the transfer deeds
These documents pave the way for the ownership of your property to be transferred to the buyer
What your conveyancer should do:
- Check the deed before sending it to you
What you should do:
- Sign it asap
7. Completion
At this point the property becomes the buyers
What you conveyancer should do:
- **FIRST AND FOREMOST** Receive full payment for the property
- Send the title deeds and transfer deeds to the buyer’s conveyancer
- Take out their fee, the amount to pay off your current mortgage, and your estate agents fees from the money received from the buyer
- Forward you what’s left, unless you’re buying a house with the proceeds
What you should do:
- Take one last look around your old house and hand the keys over to the new owners, you are no longer selling a house, you’ve sold it
8. Are you in a chain, and buying a house too?
It is quite likely that while you are selling a house, you are buying a new one to move into. With any luck, you will be using the same conveyancing service.
What your conveyancer should do:
- Forward the money you received from the sale to the person selling a house to you
- Get the title deeds and transfer deed for your new home
- Register you as the new owners with the Land Registry
- Send your title deeds to your mortgage lender
What you should do:
- Pick up your new keys, move your stuff in and enjoy life in a new home.
The process of selling a house usually takes around three months, with the stages up to exchanging contracts taking up most of that time. While we have quickly gone through selling a house, there is plenty more information available to you by searching for articles with the selling a house tag.
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