Key Stages of Selling a Property
- Instructing your solicitor
Once you have made the decision to sell your property and appointed an estate agent, you
will need to instruct a solicitor to handle the legal process for you.
- Property deeds obtained
When a buyer is found, your solicitor will download a copy of the title from the Land
Registry, or if the property is not registered, your solicitor will look to obtain the title
deeds.
- The contract pack
Your solicitor will then compile what is called a ‘contract pack’ which contains the title
documents, a contract and information about the property you are selling and includes
everything from fixtures and fittings to the boiler guarantee / servicing history. The pack
also usually includes any planning permissions granted and guarantees on work carried out
on the property.
- Replies to enquiries from the buyer
The buyer’s solicitor will then usually carry out conveyancing searches and, on receipt of the
search results (and sometimes before), raise additional enquiries.
Your solicitor will reply to any enquiries from the buyer and answer their questions to the
best of their (and your) knowledge.
- Signing the contract
Your solicitor will provide you with a contract to sign and will discuss this with you prior to
signing. They will also usually provide you with the Transfer Deed to sign before exchange
of contracts.
- Exchange contracts
At this stage, you become legally bound to proceed with the transaction by the agreed
completion date. On average there is around a week between exchange and completion.
- Completion and moving out
The sale is completed when your solicitor has received the monies from the buyer’s solicitor
and any mortgages secured on the property are redeemed. The seller’s solicitor releases the
property deeds to the buyer’s solicitor, the keys are provided via the estate agent and the
net proceeds of sale are paid.
