Buying & Selling your home

What really happens

The following is a summary of what happens when you’re buying and/or selling your home

Sale

1. Once as sale has been agreed the estate agents will forward to your solicitor a document called a memorandum of sale which details all the parties to the transaction, the property and the price agreed. 
2. The seller’s solicitors will then obtain the title deeds from their client’s lender and a copy of the Registers of Title from the Land Registry, (if the property is registered).  The Registers of Title contain all the legal information with regard to the property.  They will also ask the seller to complete a seller’s property information form and fixtures fittings & contents form.
3. Once the seller’s solicitor has received the Registers of Title, (which is usually only a couple of days after they are requested), the solicitor will draft a contract and send it to the buyer’s solicitor together with a copy of the Registers of Title and other supporting documentation.
4. The buyer’s solicitor will then check the contract and legal documents and raise whatever enquiries are necessary with the seller’s solicitor, who will usually need to take instructions from their client.
5. Once all enquiries have been answered and the buyer’s solicitor has their client’s mortgage offer, search results, and a completion date agreed by everyone in the chain, then contracts can be exchanged.  This means that the seller’s signed contract is “exchanged” with the buyer’s signed contract and the deposit is paid by the buyer to the seller’s solicitor.  This is usually done over the telephone.  Once contracts have been exchanged both parties are legally committed to the sale and agreed completion date - neither party can pull out once exchange has taken place.  There is usually about a week between exchange and completion but it can be longer, also it is possible for exchange and completion to take place on the same date.
6. On completion, the buyer’s solicitor will pay the balance purchase money to the seller’s solicitor and once that has been received, the seller’s solicitor will contact the estate agent to instruct them to give the keys to the buyer.  The seller’s solicitor will pay off any mortgages and, provided the seller is agreeable, will pay the estate agents.

Purchase

1. When contracts are received from the seller’s solicitor, (see 1 and 2 above), the buyer’s solicitor will request the local search, (information held at the local authority about the property), and other necessary searches, such as drainage search, environmental search, chancel check search, coal search. (NB.  At Bird & Co. as soon as you instruct us we will request searches – we do not need to wait for a plan as our searches are undertaken online.  This system is much quicker than the old paper based system.)
2. The buyer’s solicitor will also check the legal information provided by the seller’s solicitor and raise any necessary enquiries.
3. In the meantime, the buyer should also apply for their mortgage and pay their survey fee.  The mortgage company will then take up various references and do a credit check against the buyer.  They will also instruct a surveyor to undertake a valuation of the property.  The mortgage offer will not be issued until all references etc have come back and are satisfactory and the valuation has been done.
4. Once the buyer’s solicitor has received replies to enquiries, search results and a mortgage offer, they will then arrange to see their client to explain the documentation to them and so that the buyer can sign the Contract, Mortgage Deed and Transfer deed.
5. The buyer will also need to arrange at this point to put their solicitor in funds with regard to the deposit – if a cheque is given this will take 7 days to clear.  It is usually therefore best to provide a bankers draft or an electronic transfer of funds to the solicitor’s client account.
6. Once the deposit is cleared and a completion date has been agreed by all parties, contracts will be exchanged, (see 5 above).
7. The buyer’s solicitor will then request the mortgage funds from the lender – most lenders require at least a week’s notice to send the funds to the solicitor.
8. On the day of completion the buyer’s solicitor will send the funds to the seller’s solicitor, (see 6 above).  The buyer will obtain possession of their house and the keys on the day of completion.
9. The buyer’s solicitor will then arrange to pay the stamp duty, (now called Land Tax), if applicable, and will arrange to register the transfer of the property at the Land Registry.

Delays

Everyone in a conveyancing transaction is usually very keen to proceed as quickly as possible with their sale or purchase.

However delays can occur.  The most common delays are as follows :-

1. If a property is not registered at the Land Registry.  If this is the case then the seller’s solicitor will have to wait for their client’s lender, (who usually holds the title deeds), or their client to provide them with the deeds.  Most lenders will take a week or two to issue those deeds.
2. The buyer not providing his solicitor with money for search fees.  Most solicitors will require money for searches fees from the client as soon as the file is opened as the searches have to be paid for when they are requested.  If the client does not provide money for searches fees then generally solicitors will not do the searches, which causes delays. 
3. Mortgage offers – as lenders have to obtain a lot of information , such as credit checks, employment references and a valuation report, there can often be a hold up with one element, which will cause the issue of a mortgage offer to be delayed.  It is therefore important that you provide your mortgage company with all the information you can when you make your application and pay for the valuation, as the mortgage lender will not instruct a surveyor to undertake the survey until it is paid for.
4. Chains.  If a property is in a chain then everyone in that chain has to be able to exchange and complete on the same day, otherwise someone could end up homeless or owning two houses !  The longer the chain the greater the likelihood of delay as it means there are more transactions to be co-ordinated.
5. Clearance of funds.  As stated above a personal cheque takes at least 7 days to clear so it is best not to use this method to provide your solicitor with the deposit or balance purchase money due.

If you are aware of potential causes of delay before they happen, you can be alert to them and hopefully avoid them

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