Buying a property can be a stressful time but a good Solicitor can ease the burden.
Fact
There were nearly 1.5 million property transactions which completed in 2021
Once you have made an offer and it has been accepted the Estate Agents, if involved, will send us, and the Seller's Solicitors, the details of the transaction, known as 'Sale Particulars'. In the case of a Private Sale, you will need to forward the details of the Sellers, and their Solicitors, yourself.
Upon receiving these details we will contact you to gather further information about yourself, how you plan to finance the purchase and to start our client on boarding procedure.
A “Contract Pack” containing the Land Registry documents and a draft contract will be provided by the Sellers Solicitors at first contact. It may also include the following Law Society Protocol Forms completed by the seller, however these can sometimes follow a week or so later:
Property Information Form (TA6) - This form provides information about the property such as any building works the seller may have carried out, any informal rights, service providers etc. This form is designed to answer all initial enquiries we would otherwise need to make.
Fittings and Contents Form (TA10) - This form confirms what items in the house are included or excluded from the purchase, for example the sofas, curtain poles, fitted cupboards etc.
Once we have these documents we will instigate the Searches. We have recently published an article about Searches, click below to read more about Searches.
*As searches are very common, highly advised and a necessity if you are obtaining a mortgage, this article will continue on the assumption that they are being carried out.
As searches often take between 3-4 weeks to return during this stage we may take the opportunity to raise initial enquiries on the information received so far.
Once the Searches are returned we will raise further enquiries and will start to prepare for exchange and completion. We will have you sign the agreed contract and transfer, albeit undated, any mortgage documents, if required, and provide you with a completion statement. A Completion Statement breaks down the inputs and outputs of the transaction and shows the final amount we will require from you before exchange.
When all of our enquiries are complete we will report to you outlining all of our findings. If you are happy to proceed following the report we will begin to arrange a date for exchange and completion with the other side.
Once a date is agreed we will, if required, apply for the mortgage moneys and you will provide us with the amount required for exchange as shown on the completion statement.
On the day of exchange, we will call you to confirm you are happy to proceed. If you are, we will then contact the other side and exchange contracts. Exchange of contracts is a crucial stage in the process as it is the moment when both you and the Seller become legally bound to complete the transaction on the date agreed on the contract.
On the day of completion, we will receive the monies from the mortgage company, if required, and send all of the purchase moneys to the other side. They will confirm receipt of the monies, tell the estate agents to release the keys and confirm completion. The legal transfer of ownership is complete.
Following completion we will apply to the Land Registry to update the register to show you as the new proprietor of the property. Following the confirmation of the Transfer from the Land Registry we will forward the new entries to you. Please be aware that the Land Registry are often busy and it may take some time for the registration documents to come through.
Following this we will conclude the matter.
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