Selling A House

LOCATING YOUR DEEDS

Upon receiving your instructions we will obtain your title deeds from the Land Registry

Upon receiving your instructions we will obtain your title deeds. If your property is mortgage-free and we acted for you when you bought the property we will retrieve them from storage, otherwise you will need to inform us where the deeds are located. If your property is subject to a mortgage, the deeds will be stored with your mortgage lenders.

For ease and speed, we will require details of the full names of all of the owners of the property, your lender's name, your mortgage account number and a full description and postal address of the property. We will also need details of the selling agents and whether or not you are intending to buy another property.

If you already have a buyer, we will need to know their details and those of their solicitors. It will be helpful to know your timescale or agenda for the move. We will be able to advise you whether or not this is realistic.

RESEARCHING YOUR TITLE

Once we have obtained your deeds, we will study the Title and advise you whether we need any additional information such as copies of any recent planning permission(s), marriage or death certificates etc.

If your property is registered, we will contact the Land Registry for "Office Copies" of your title deeds; these provide an up to date view of your title and will reveal any adverse entries such as court orders registered against your title since your deeds were last updated.

DRAFTING THE CONTRACT

When satisfied that your title is good we will prepare a draft contract for your buyer's solicitors to approve. The draft contract will set out details of your title, the purchase price, any additional fixtures and fittings agreed to be sold with the property and the amount of the deposit, as well as many more detailed and technical terms.

SELLERS' INFORMATION PACK

There are forms you will need to complete and return to us. The Sellers' Information Form requires you to state details of any current guarantees/warranties that benefit the property such as double glazing, damp proofing and the like, any disputes with your neighbours and the ownership of boundaries. The Fixtures and Fittings Form is simple; it requires you to list those items being sold with the property and those which you intend to remove or have agreed to sell for an additional payment. In the case of Leasehold flats a Leasehold Information form will need to be completed which will require details of the freeholder, insurance, service charge payments and various other matters.

EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS

Once your buyer is satisfied with your title, you will need to sign the contract. Once this has been done and your buyer has signed his part of the contract as well and a date to complete the transaction has been agreed, the two solicitors will exchange contracts.

Completion will normally take place 7 to 28 days from the date of exchange of contracts. If you are also buying a property, care will be taken to tie in your purchase date to ensure that they are simultaneous. Once exchange of contracts has taken place, you will be legally bound to complete the transaction. Therefore you must be certain that you wish to sell before exchange of contracts takes place. If you have any doubts you must inform us.

PRIOR TO COMPLETION

If your property is subject to a mortgage we will obtain an up to date figure on how much you owe (as at the completion date), as this will need to be repaid to your lender upon completion.

Even if you are buying another property and are using the same lender as before, we will still need this information. You will also be requested to sign the transfer deed which will legally transfer the property to your buyer. This document will be handed over upon completion. You must of course ensure that you have made suitable arrangements for the removal of your furniture and effects from the property on or before the day of completion.

COMPLETION DAY AND AFTERWARDS

On the morning of completion you should be removing your belongings from the property and arranging to leave it in a neat and tidy condition. If you leave any items in the property once completion take place you will be deemed to have gifted them to your buyers; you will therefore need to ensure that you remove everything that you want from the property.

Normally on the morning of completion we will speak to your buyer's solicitors, who will agree to send the purchase money to our bank via a bank electronic transfer. Once our bank has received this money we will notify the Agents that they can release the keys to your buyers. If your property is subject to a mortgage, we will send by electronic bank transfer the amount outstanding back to your lender.

We will also arrange to receive a formal "receipt" from your mortgage lender confirming that your mortgage has been repaid in full. We will normally send the title deeds and the document transferring title of the property to the buyer to their solicitors on the day of completion.

If you do not have a linked purchase we will forward to you the net proceeds of the sale after deducting our legal fees and that of your agents (unless you instruct us differently).