Conveyancing made easy
Conveyancing is the term for
the legal process of transferring the ownership of a property from
the seller to the buyer. Any
solicitor can act as a conveyancer, but there are also specialists
who concentrate just on this area of law.
Put plainly, the process not only ensures that you become the legal
owner of the property, but also confirms that the seller is the legal
owner and permitted to sell it to you.
You don't need to understand all the legal details of buying a home
- that's what your solicitor is for. But knowing more or less
what should be happening and when, will give you a better idea of whether
everything is going smoothly or not. Read our six tips to help
slice through the mystery that is conveyancing.
1 The
best way to find a reliable solicitor is to ask friends or family for
recommendations, or you could contact the Council of Licensed Conveyancers
or the Law Society for details of licensed conveyancers and solicitors
in your area.
2 The process starts with the seller's conveyancer. They
will draw up a draft contract based on the title deeds of the property,
which sets out exactly what land and buildings the property includes. The
contract has two parts - the particulars of sale and conditions of
sale. The particulars describe the property and details of
the lease or freehold, while the conditions have information about
the proposed completion date and the deposit. All this is forwarded
on to your solicitor with information sheets compiled by the seller
on things such as fixtures and fittings and disputes with the neighbours.
3 Your conveyancer will then consider the terms
of the draft contract and conduct a Land Registry search to confirm
the seller is the owner. They will raise any concerns you may
have with the seller's conveyancer. Then they will conduct
local and drainage searches. These will show up, for example,
where there are any outstanding charges on the property or if it
is a conservation or smoke control area
4 Once your solicitor is happy with the title documents
and you are satisfied with the results of your search, you will arrange
to the contract. You must have your formal mortgage offer in
place at this time - preferably before this - and make sure you are
happy with the survey before you exchange contracts.
5 The process up to this point should take anywhere
between six and eight weeks - but beware as it may not go this smoothly,
so prepare to be patient throughout and keep in contact with your
conveyancer. Now you can agree a completion date for the sale,
you are ready to exchange contracts. The contract comes in
two identical parts. You sign one part and the seller signs
the other. The conveyancers then agree a specific time and
date when the contracts are deemed to be exchanged and the parts
are literally exchanged, usually by post. Both you and the
seller are now legally bound to proceed and will face hefty financial
penalties if you fail to do so. You will usually have to provide
the deposit at this pint, so if you were to default you would certainly
lose that.
6 A completion date will be written into the contract. This
is the date when all monies are paid and you take possession of your
new home. Once your lender is happy with the checks on the
property it will release the funds at request of your conveyancer. This
will happen by electronic transfer, and you won't actually get the
keys until your seller's conveyancer has received the money. In
return your conveyancer will receive the deeds for your new property
before transferring them to your bank or building society.
When the
conveyancer informs you that the sale has been completed, you simply
pick up the keys.
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