A Conveyancing Guide for Buyers
This guide provides a brief overview of the conveyancing buying process that Waters & Co., will undertake on your behalf.
Once a “subject to contract” (i.e. not yet legally binding) purchase has been agreed, we will start the conveyancing process. Choosing a solicitor recommended by family or friends is generally a good choice. We are a small specialist conveyancing team based on the High Street in the North Warwickshire town of Coleshill, offering the advantage of speed as you can call in or drop off documents and meet the actual people you are dealing with on a very personal basis. You will not incur the added costs of having your ID verified to post out to long distance solicitors as we can do them for you in house at no extra charge. We will provide you with a worst case scenario breakdown of legal fees and disbursements (expenses) with no hidden extras or nasty shocks at the end of the transaction. Once you have agreed you wish us to proceed, you will need to notify the selling agent and any mortgage adviser of your choice. You will then receive a client care letter from us which you will be asked to sign and return, promptly, with any money needed for the initial searches, plus evidence of identification.
Upon receipt of the above, we will write to the solicitor representing the seller, as detailed in the Memo of Sale issued by the estate agent, and call for the contract pack.
Once you have applied for your mortgage, you should advise us of the lender’s details so we can monitor the arrival of the mortgage offer. If you are not having a mortgage, it is prudent to arrange for a private survey. If you are adding private funds to the mortgage loan, or paying cash for the property, we will require evidence of the funding via bank statements, together with details of where those funds have come from eg. Inheritance, sale of another property etc.
Once we receive the contract pack from the sellers’ solicitor, we will check the title and raise such enquiries and call for any additional paperwork we deem necessary. We will keep you advised of progress, send you copies of important letters and documents together with copies of the Fixtures and Contents and Property Information forms, completed by the seller. Where there are legal issues which cannot be resolved eg. No legal right of access or missing Building Regulation Completion Certificates, an appropriate indemnity insurance policy may have to be considered to overcome the problem. As we will be representing you and also your lender, certain legal issues may need to be referred to your Lender and/or their surveyor to obtain approval and/or confirmation that it does not adversely affect valuation and that the mortgage offer is not affected.
Searches, eg. local search, environmental, water, flood, Hs2, mining, as appropriate, will be carried out by us. The search results should be received whilst any pre contract enquiries are being dealt with. Some local search results, depending upon the Local Authority, can take as long as 3 weeks to arrive. Reports on the search results will be sent to you with a copy of the actual search.
Once we have received satisfactory replies to all the enquiries, and satisfactory search results, and mortgage offer (if applicable), we will arrange to meet you to go through all the documentation. If you have decided to use a long distance or internet solicitor they will have to post a mass of copy paperwork to you. The benefits of using us are significant. It will speed up the transaction. You will be able to call into the local office to deliver/collect paperwork. We are efficient and proactive. You will have a face to face meeting with the solicitor to discuss the whole transaction when you will be able to ask any questions or discuss any concerns you may have before committing to, probably, one of the most expensive transactions of your life!
At this stage, you will sign the contract and deed of transfer and will be provided with a Financial Completion Statement detailing precisely what you have to pay including legal fees, Land Registry fees and Stamp Duty. Funds should be transferred to us by electronic transfer (not by cheque) so that we can use the funds immediately, once the entire chain of transactions is ready to proceed. We always ask that you telephone to check the bank details before transmitting funds.
When the chain is ready, dates for completion are discussed. Once a date is agreed, we will obtain your authority to commit you to the transaction, having factored in sufficient time for your lender to release mortgage funds on the day before completion. Checks have to be made by the parties in the chain as to the practicalities eg. that time can be taken off work; that removal companies are available etc., before the date is made legally binding. The solicitors in the chain will then exchange contracts, by telephone, and the parties are then legally bound. If any party fails to complete, their deposit may be lost and they may be liable for damages. There would need to be exceptional circumstances for a party not to proceed and suffer the consequences. Upon exchange of contracts, you must insure the property. It is sensible to have buildings insurance set up, in readiness, prior to exchange of contracts so premiums and excesses can be checked prior to an exchange of contracts and it can then be put into effect without delay once the exchange takes place.
The time scale of a purchase transaction will vary. It can be as little as 4 weeks, particularly if there is no related chain of transactions, or no mortgage offer needed, but most transactions take up to 12 weeks and longer if title issues arise, mortgage offers are delayed, or someone in the chain has a matter outstanding or their own time agenda.
On the day of completion, we will send the purchase monies to the sellers’ solicitor. Once it has been received, that solicitor will call the estate agents to advise them to release the keys to you. Precisely when you get the keys depends upon the speed of the monies moving along the chain, the efficiency of banks and how long it physically takes each seller to actually move out. Ideally, keys should be available around noon to 2pm but we will have no control over the speed the sellers actually move out so, in reality, a little patience may be needed.
Remember to read meters upon arrival at the new property, and to notify household utility companies and the Council Tax office of the change of ownership. Insurance should have been put on risk when the exchange of contracts took place.
After completion we will pay any Stamp Duty and apply to the Land Registry to register the legal title in your name, with your mortgage noted onto the register. Registration can take weeks, or months, depending upon the type of registration. A copy of the final title document will be provided to you, together with any background paperwork such as guarantees, indemnity insurance policies and planning paperwork, which should be kept safely for future use when you sell.
This is a brief overview of a basic purchase transaction. Procedures may vary
