Selling a Home
Thank you for asking Aldridge & Brownlee to act on your behalf in the sale of your property. It may be helpful if we outlined the general course that a sale usually follows.
At the Outset
- Once we have your instructions to sell your property we need to obtain the title deeds as soon as possible. You should bring them in to our office as soon as possible or confirm to us where you have a mortgage and the account number or roll number which identifies it.
- We will request the deeds if they are with your Lender and usually a repayment figure for your mortgage account for budgeting purposes.
- We will also ask you to fill in a form to indicate what you are leaving at the property (Fixtures & Fittings List) and to answer a standard set of questions about your property which the buyer will need to know (Property Information Questionnaire). When you return these forms we shall need to have details of any alterations to the property in order that we can check that you have obtained all necessary consents (for example from the local planning offices or under building regulations or of the original builder). Please hand in any original guarantees and specification.
- If there are estate agents involved in the sale they will normally have sent us the particulars of the sale and we will need to know if there are any errors.
- As soon as we receive the deeds and replies to the preliminary forms we will send Contract papers to the purchasers solicitors.
- Tip
If we are instructed in good time before a sale is negotiated then all of the above steps can be done in readiness which enables the Contract papers to be sent out as soon as a sale is negotiated. This enables the buyers solicitors to get on with their work straight away and avoid delay. - Before Exchange
Once the Contract papers have been sent we will deal with any specific queries made by the purchasers solicitors that are peculiar to the property. If there are no queries there is likely to be a period of 3 to 4 weeks during which time the purchasers solicitors will be dealing with their planning searches, mining searches, obtaining a mortgage offer and approving and explaining the Contract to their client. If there is any further negotiation to be carried out (for example when the purchasers receive their survey) then this would take place during this period. - Towards the end of this period we will ask you to call to sign the Contract in order that we are in a position to make the transactions legally binding as soon as the buyers are in a position to proceed. The point at which the transaction becomes legally binding is known as “exchange of contracts”.
- Exchange of Contracts
At the time you sign the Contract it does not become legally binding. It only becomes binding on you when the solicitors agree “to exchange” (now usually done over the phone). At the time you sign the Contract the date of completion will often not be known and will only therefore be inserted in to the Contract on the day of exchange. - The Completion Date
This is the moving date. It is the date when you agree to move out of the property (usually by 1.00pm) and to hand over the keys (subject to us receiving the sale monies in from the purchasers solicitors). - Before Completion
Before completion we will check the balanceneeded to pay off your mortgage or mortgages. We ill obtain the final transfer deed prepared by the buyers solicitors which must be signed by you before completion and if you owe more than the value of the property you will need to arrange to pay us anyshortfall. Our own costs and the costs of any estate agents are normally payable from the sale proceeds unless again there is a shortfall when you will be requested to pay this before completion. - The Day of Completion
On the day of completion we ask you always to ring our office as close to midday as possible and to speak to the solicitor dealing with your case or that solicitor’s secretary. You should not leave a message but should wait to speak to someone directly. This is a fail-safe arrangement incase anything arises at the last minute on which we need to speak to you. We ask you to ring because telephones can often be cut off early or mobile phones fail to respond. On the day of completion we will also arrange to pay from the sale proceeds the monies due under any mortgages secured against the property. - Monies due to you
Any monies due to you following the sale would normally be paid out to you on the working day following completion but exceptionally on the second working day. Unless agreement is made to the contrary this will be sent to you by cheque. The above is intended to be an overview of the process in general. We must stress that an individual sale can have its own timetable dictated by its unique features.
