The conveyancing process explained for property sellers
Whether you are buying or selling a home, you are guaranteed to come across the term conveyancing – one of the most important components of a successful house sale. Here is the process explained for property sellers.
The conveyancing process explained for property sellers
Whether you are buying or selling a home, you are guaranteed to come across the term conveyancing – one of the most important components of a successful house sale.
But despite its crucial role, conveyancing is clouded in mystery for many sellers, often seen as complicated and a little intimidating.
Therefore, understanding what the process entails, and what is being done to speed it up to a greater degree, can help to ensure that you don’t face any nasty surprises along the way.
Below, using our years of experience where we’ve helped many sellers through the conveyancing process, we take a closer look.
Forms and checks
Conveyancing begins when a buyer submits an offer and officially ends when the seller hands over the keys. Prior to this, there are plenty of obligatory forms to be filled in.
Once you have accepted an offer from your chosen buyer, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for your sale – whether independently or recommended by your agent.
Your conveyancer will request your title deeds and ask you to complete a questionnaire. This includes a Property Information Form (also known as a TA6), a Fixtures and Fittings Form (TA10) and, assuming the home you’re selling is a leasehold, a Leasehold Information Form (TA7).
Both the seller and the buyer instruct separate solicitors to act on their behalf. It’s wise to talk with your conveyancer about a completion date so this can be negotiated with the buyer’s conveyancer ahead of time.
Meanwhile, your mortgage lender will send your conveyancer a statement for the total sum that needs to be repaid on completion of your sale.
Exchange and completion
Once the exchange stage has been reached, you and your buyer have entered a legally binding agreement. So, it’s essential that you’re 100% committed to the sale before exchanging, as there can be no backing out afterwards without consequences.
Your conveyancer will then receive the buyer’s deposit – typically 10% of the property price, but potentially as low as 5% or as high as 30-40%, depending on the circumstances of the sale.
At this point, the buyer is likely to lose their deposit if they back out, which incentivises them to be totally sure about the purchase before exchanging contracts.
It’s also important to remember that you can no longer accept another offer once the exchange of contracts has taken place. With this in mind, make sure you have decided on the best and final offer for you and your circumstances before you exchange.
Before the completion date arrives, your conveyancer will seek payment for their services. All final accounts and paperwork will be put in place by your conveyancer and a final settlement will be created for your approval.
It is your conveyancer’s job to ensure that all deeds and remaining monies have arrived in the correct fashion and that your sale is legally complete. Afterwards, they will transfer the deeds to the buyer’s conveyancer, so the home is no longer in your name.
Your conveyancer will then pay your agent the fee they are owed, repay the amount owed to the existing mortgage lender, and take payment for their own services.
When all costs and payments have been dealt with, the rest of the money from the house sale will be transferred to you on the day of completion. This will typically be by bank transfer unless you have made other arrangements.
Post-completion
Once the completion stage has been reached, you must ensure you leave the property at the pre-agreed time.
There is no obligation to move out before this time, but it may be a good idea to move out earlier to avoid the hassle and stress of last-minute packing and tying up loose ends.
When you have left your property, you should hand over the keys to your estate agent or the purchaser of your home.
It’s a wise idea to book a removal firm a few weeks in advance of moving day. This is even more important at the moment, with the current frenzied market. There are certain days of the week in which costs for removal companies are lower, and certain times of the year, too.
Speeding up the process
As we can see, there is plenty to consider when it comes to the conveyancing process which is where an experienced, reliable estate agent is worth their weight in gold.
They will have done it hundreds of times before and will know the pain points and hold-ups that often occur in the conveyancing process, as well as how to solve them.
Currently, HM Land Registry and others are taking steps to make the process of conveyancing faster, more streamlined and more tech-led, with trials including blockchain, e-signatures and the signing of mortgage deeds online.
And while much of the process is paper-based and e-conveyancing is still a way off, these are steps in the right direction for a more efficient system for all.
Here at Christopher Stokes, our dedicated team have over 40 years of local knowledge which, coupled with a genuine desire to provide exceptional customer service, is a recipe for success.
For more information on all parts of the conveyancing process, and how we can help you complete a sale successfully in Cheshunt, Enfield and the surrounding areas, please get in touch with us today.
We also offer a free, instant online valuation tool, to give you an estimate of how much your home could be worth in the current marketplace.