Selling a Property
Selling a property usually takes 2 to 3 months depending on whether there is a chain, the buyer requires a mortgage or if they are a cash buyer.
When selling your home you must provide an Energy Performance Certificate for the property. Your estate agent will advise you on this.
If you are instructing an Estate Agent then all offers must be made through the Estate Agent. Once an offer is accepted then your Solicitor will draw up a legal Contract to transfer ownership of the property. Offers are not legally binding until Exchange of Contracts.
When instructing your Solicitor you should tell them when you would like to Exchange Contracts and Complete.
You will need to provide us with:
- Your Mortgage Roll number
- Photo ID
- A detailed questionnaire on the property, covering boundary walls, any disputes with the neighbor’s etc. We will provide you with this questionnaire.
- A form detailing what fixtures and fittings are included in the sale. We will provide you with this questionnaire.
A date for Completion will usually be set for around 2 weeks after the Exchange, which will give you time to arrange for removals of your furniture. However, if you or another party are in a chain then the date is usually arranged so that everyone completes on the same day.
Our charges
The cost of selling a house is affected by numerous factors such as whether the property is leasehold or freehold. We will at the start of the conveyancing process provide you with a detailed quote providing our fees and the likely disbursements that will be incurred on your behalf.
To give an idea of the likely charges we’ve included an example of fees below.
Up to £180,000
Our fees on a sale of a freehold start at £700.00 plus VAT of £140.00
Our fees on a sale of a leasehold start at £1,200.00 plus VAT of £240.00
From £180,0001 to £300,000
Our fees on a sale of a freehold start at £750.00 plus VAT of £150.00
Our fees on a sale of a leasehold start at £1,500.00 plus VAT of £300.00
From £300,001 to £500,000
Our fees on a sale of a freehold start at £895.00 plus VAT of £179.00
Our fees on a sale of a leasehold start at £1,600 plus VAT of £320.00
From £500,001 to £1,000,000
Our fees on a sale of a freehold start at £1,000.00 plus VAT of £200
Our fees on a sale of a leasehold start at £1,800 plus VAT of £360.00
From £1,000,001 to £3,000,000
Our fees on a sale of a freehold start at £2,000.00 plus VAT of £400
Our fees on a sale of a leasehold start at £2,700 plus VAT of £540.00
Additional charges
In addition to the above we charge additional fees, when appropriate for the below:
| Bank transfer fee of £25.00 plus VAT of £5.00 will apply |
| Identification / AML check fee of £15.00 plus VAT of £3.00 per person will apply (powered by Thirdfort) |
Disbursements
You will likely incur other costs and disbursements that are payable to third parties which may include: (where applicable VAT is included at 20%)
| Official copies £6.00 |
Example of our charges
For a couple selling a freehold property for £180,000 in England, we would charge:
| Net | VAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | ||
| Our fee | £700.00 | £140.00 |
| Bank transfer fee (transfer of sale proceeds to you) | £25.00 | £5.00 |
| Identification / AML searches for 2 people | £30.00 | £6.00 |
| Total fees | £755.00 | £151.00 |
| Disbursements | ||
| Office copies | £6.00 | £0.00 |
| Total disbursements | £6.00 | £0.00 |
| Subtotal | £761.00 | £151.00 |
| Total fees, disbursements and VAT | £912.00 | |
Key stages and timescales
Stage 1: Arranging to instruct us
Upon you receiving confirmation the sale has been agreed to your buyer you will need to make arrangements to instruct ourselves to act on your behalf.
The Estate Agents will require confirmation from you of your acting Solicitors and you should ensure you notify them of our details as they will then arrange to issue your acting Conveyancer with a memorandum of sale.
We will upon receipt of instructions send you out a client care package with the documents that you need to complete and return to us to enable contracts to be issued to your Buyer’s Solicitor.
If your property is leasehold then please ensure that your provide us with confirmation of the same as we will need to obtain a management pack from them for which they will undoubtedly charge a fee which we will inform you of the same prior to obtaining the pack as you will need to make payment to us to arrange for the pack to be sent ourselves
Stage 2: Submitting contract documentation (1 to 2 weeks)
Upon this firm receiving a sales memorandum from the estate agents we will arrange to contact the Solicitors acting for the Buyer to obtain instructions they are acting and we will then arrange to submit contract documents to them with the documentation you have completed about your property being the Property information form, Fixtures and Contents form and any other documents pertaining to works carried out at the property and Land Registry title documents which we will arrange to obtain from Land Registry direct.
If the property is leasehold or subject to a management arrangement we will contact the landlord / management company asking them to provide relevant leasehold information pack to be completed. Please note that most landlord / management companies will charge a fee for providing this information, which we will require from you upfront. Once payment has been received by them it could take several weeks for the completed forms to be returned to us.
At that time we will need to make arrangements to carry out Identification check against yourselves
Stage 3: Contract enquiries (2 to 4 weeks)
Once the Buyer’s Solicitors are in receipt of searches all the contract papers will be fully reviewed and any necessary enquiries will then be raised with ourselves, and you will receive a copy of those enquiries to respond to any enquiries pertaining to the property or title
Stage 4: Repyling to enquiries (2 to 4 weeks)
The buyers’ solicitors will review the enquiries upon receipt of the same and report to their clients If the property is a leasehold, then we may have to refer to the management company/companies or freeholder, and this can take sometime to respond as we are relying on third parties to answer those enquiries.
Stage 5: Documentation for signature (1 to 2 weeks)
When all satisfactory response to enquiries, have been dealt with you will then need to sign the contract and transfer and we will then send these to you. At the time we will also produce your completion statement showing the balance of funds due to us.
Stage 6: Exchange of contracts and arranging for completion
When you have signed and returned all signed documentation to us, we will arrange to discuss completion dates with yourselves if we have not already done so. We will then arrange to obtain a redemption figure from your mortgagees if applicable and arrange to let you have a completion statement.
Once exchange takes place all parties will be legally bound by the contract and the completion date, and we must complete on the date inserted in the contract upon exchange.
Stage 7: The day of completion
When you completion date arrives the buyers’ solicitors will then arrange to transfer completion funds to ourselves by bank transfer. Upon receipt of funds by the buyer’s we will then arrange to make payment to yourselves, your mortgagees and estate agents if applicable.
You will need to make arrangements to drop your keys into the estate agents no later than 1pm, upon receipt of funds we will telephone the agents to release keys to the buyer.
If no agents are involved you will need to make arrangements with the buyer to pass the keys over once we have informed you the matter has completed.
We will transfer the purchase monies to the sellers’ solicitors by bank transfer; when the funds have been received the sellers’ solicitors will confirm receipt of the same. The sellers’ solicitors will instruct the estate agents to release the key to you.