Selling your house can be a stressful time, even more so if you don’t understand the conveyancing process. The first stage is when your solicitor obtains the title deeds and any land registry documents for the property, and once they have these they will provide you with two forms to complete. The first is a ‘Fixtures, Fittings and Contents Form.’ And the second is a ‘Property Information Form’ and when you send these back they need to be accompanied by any other documentation relating to the property.
Once your solicitor all the correct documentation they will then, on your behalf, prepare a draft contract, which is then sent to the buyer’s solicitors. Once they receive it they will carry out the searches and raise any queries they may have.
You may need to assist your solicitor in answering these queries, and once the other party are satisfied, you and the buyer will need to sign and exchange contracts. Upon exchange of contracts the sale becomes legally binding, a completion date will be agreed, and the buyer will pay the deposit.
After the completion date has arrived your solicitor will receive the balance form the buyer and handover the deeds to their solicitor. After paying any mortgage and subtracting their legal fees the solicitor will the forward the balance on to the seller, and the sale is complete.
If it is you that is buying a property, then first of all congratulations! The conveyancing process begins for you as soon as your solicitor receives the draft contract from the buyers solicitor, which they will review whilst carrying out an relevant searches, such as the Local Authority Search.
Should there be any queries relating to this or any of the documentation, then your solicitor will raise these with the other party and gain answers/resolution, and once all queries are satisfied they will construct a property report for you.
Afterwards a contract will be drawn up, which will be signed by both buyer and seller, and once these are exchanged the contract will be legally binding. Once this has happened the statement of completion is drawn up and a date set, and you will need to pay the balance to your solicitor, at which point the property is transferred into your name.
Upon completion, the balance of the funds is transferred to the seller’s solicitor and they pass on the deeds.
