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Step-by-step conveyancing guide for sellers
Step-by-step conveyancing guide for sellers
Where to start: Before you put your property on the market or receive an offer
1
Choose and communicate with your conveyancer:
- Sign and return the Letter of Engagement to confirm your choice of conveyancing service
- Provide proof of ID and address
- Complete and return a Property Information Form (TA6), Fitting and Contents Form (TA10). Make sure you are honest, and if you don’t know the answers to any questions talk to your conveyancer or leave ‘TBC’.
- Send copies of any documents relevant to the forms including certificates, permissions, warranties, building regulations.
2
Inform your mortgage lender
Let your lender or broker know that you plan to sell and find out how much of the loan is outstanding and if there is any penalty.
Put your property on the market, and accept an offer
3
Draft a contract
This can be done immediately after you put your property on the market or after you have received an offer. Your solicitor will draft a contract based on the information that you provided in your forms. This will include fixtures, fittings, whether these are included in the sale price or not and a provisional date of completion.
4
Provide access for the survey
The buyer will arrange for a valuer or surveyor to examine your property. This is both to inform their mortgage and highlight any points they wish to discuss or investigate further.
5
Renegotiate and Respond to enquiries
If the survey highlights any expensive work that is required on the building, the buyer make want to renegotiate the price or request the repairs are done prior to exchange. The solicitor may also have further questions relating to property searches, such as condition, planning permissions, drainage and environmental issues that were not already answered.
6
Finalise the contract and agree a completion date
When the buyer is happy with the contract and have no further enquiries or concerns, hey will be sent a final version to read and sign. At this point a completion date is agreed to suit both parties.
7
Exchange contracts & receive deposit
When everyone else in the chain is ready to proceed, the formal exchange of contracts will take place. This is normally done on a recorded telephone call between the legal representatives of the buyer and seller. At this point, your legal representation will receive the buyer’s deposit and the contract is legally binding.
8
Make moving preparations
You have from the exchange until the agreed completion date to organise your move. Make sure that you check against the fixtures and fittings form to ensure you are leaving the property in the condition and with all the things agreed in the contract. Addressing these things on moving day can add unnecessary stress.
9
Completion day
On this day, you first want to confirm your solicitor is ‘in funds’ this means that they have received the balance from the buyer’s conveyancer. They can then transfer the legal documents of ownership to the buyer, organise redemption of your mortgage and all other fees and monies. You will receive a completion statement including all the monies settled and outstanding.
It is a good idea to read your meter just before you vacate the property. You must vacate the property by the time the transfer is completed, hand the keys over to the estate agent and leave any spares inside the property. This is typically by 1pm on moving day, so you will most likely need to be packed up and ready to move the previous day.
10
Loose ends
- After the sale is completed, you will need to keep and file all paperwork related to the sale in case there are any queries post sale.
- Make sure you change your address with all the relevant parties. Read “Who to contact when you have moved” for a good place to start.
Who do I need to tell when I move?
You have found a new home and are getting ready for moving day. With all the stress of moving, it can be easy to forget someone on the list of necessary people and organisations that need a correct and up to date address.
As soon as you know you will be moving, it is useful to keep your mail as a ‘list’ of the people that have your existing address. This can be a great starting point for generating a list of all the people that will need an updated address.
If you have lived in a property a long time, or are concerned you may forget someone, it is worth looking in to the Royal Mail Postal Redirect service. This can cost just a few pounds a month but give you a bit of time to make sure you get everyone!
To help you, here are some of the most important people that will need an up-do-date address:
- Utility companies – make sure you communicate up to date meter readings at the same time!
- Gas
- Electricity
- Water
- Local Councils and Authorities
- Council tax
- Electoral roll
- Social services (if relevant)
- Government
- Department for Work and Pensions
- HM Revenue and Customs HMRC
- DVLA
- TV Licensing
- Banks and Financial Institutions
- Banks
- Building Societies
- Credit Card Companies
- Loan providers
- Store Cards
- Investment Companies
- Premium Bonds
- Pension Providers
- Mortgage company
- Insurance Companies
- Home insurance
- Contents insurance
- Mobile Phone/Gadget Insurance
- Life insurance
- Car Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Pet insurance
- Telecommunications
- Phone landline
- Mobile phone
- Broadband
- Satellite television
- Employers and Unions
- Healthcare Providers
- GP
- Dentist
- Optician
- Vet (Update microchip databases at the same time)
- Private health care service providers (if relevant)
- Etc.
- Vehicle recovery service (AA/RAC/Green Flag etc.)
- Clubs/Memberships/Subscription services
- o Loyalty cards (supermarkets, retail stores)
- Gym memberships
- Hobby/Sports Clubs
- Catalogue companies
- Memberships (e.g. Costco)
- Subscription boxes
- Magazine subscriptions
- Newspaper delivery
- Milk delivery
- Service Providers
- o Loyalty cards (supermarkets, retail stores)
- o Cleaners
- o Gardeners
- o Window cleaners
- o Accountants
- o Solicitors
- Friends and Family
- Universities, Colleges, schools or childcare providers (if you have children)
Real Legal
Office 5
Empire Business Centre
2 Empire Way
Burnley
BB12 6HH
- 0345 646 0501
Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Real Legal Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales with number 12061875 and SRA number 663663.
Registered office: Suite 5 Empire Business Centre, 2 Empire Way, Burnley, BB12 6HH
Trading office: Suite 5 Empire Business Centre, 2 Empire Way, Burnley, BB12 6HH
Directors: Claire Stewart, Catherine Gavin and Kimberly Holgate.