SELLING A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
It is important that when selling and purchasing a property at the same time, that we complete both transactions on the same date.
You may be using an Estate Agent to market your property and negotiate on your behalf. You may have a Mortgage on the property which must be paid off when your property is sold. We will ask you to provide us with details of your mortgage lender, your account number and their address so that we can write to them for a Redemption Figure. The Redemption Figure is the sum of money that your mortgage lender requires to remove the note of their Mortgage from the property. Some mortgage lenders may charge an additional fee, called a Redemption Fee, for early repayment of the mortgage. The Redemption Figure is important because we must ensure that when you sell your property, the sale price is sufficient to redeem your mortgage.
You will need to complete various forms giving information to your buyer about the property. Usually you will fill in a Fixtures Fittings and Contents Form. This form is used to tell the buyer what you propose to leave at the property and what you propose to take with you when you leave. The Property Information Form is used to tell the buyer about the property, for example whether you have carried out work at the property such as double glazing, cavity wall insulation and building work and you should provide us with any guarantees or planning permissions in relation to such work. If your property is Leasehold, (see Buyers Information Guide), you will need to complete a Leasehold Information Form. This form is used to tell the buyer who collects the ground rent, the amount of ground rent payable on your property and other information about the property. We will also ask you to complete a Utilities Information Form which is used to tell the buyer about the current Utility Suppliers to the Property.
The Buyer may then raise Enquiries before Contract. This is a set of questions asked by Buyer about the property and which are not covered by any of the forms mentioned above. We will usually assist you in completing this form.
Leon Kaye Solicitors will then prepare Contracts for the sale on your behalf. The Contract for sale is a legally binding document between yourself and the buyer and contains the main terms of what has been agreed, i.e. the property, the price and the names of the seller(s) and buyer(s). It is important that you if you hold any Title Deeds (the documents that show your ownership of the property/land), that you give these to us as the buyer’s solicitors may ask for copies of some documents relating to the property, particularly in the case of Leasehold Property where a copy of the Lease will usually be asked for. Title Deeds usually comprise of documents known as Conveyances, Leases and often some earlier searches carried out against the property. If you do not have any Title Deeds we may have to apply to the Land Registry for copy documents. The Land Registry is where all properties are registered and they often hold copies of the documents most important to your property. The Land Registry charges a fee for supplying copy documents.
The buyer’s Solicitors will carry out Searches against the property. These usually consist of a Local Authority Search, Environmental Search and Coal Mining Search. The purpose of these searches is more fully explained in our section on Buying a Property. The Buyer may then ask some further questions about matters revealed by their searches, for example whether you have ever been asked to contribute to the repair of roads or pavements surrounding your property, whether your property has ever been flooded or whether your property has ever been damaged as a result of mining activity. You will be expected to provide an Energy Performance Certificate which means that you will have to instruct a provider to attend at your home and check the various appliances and the property itself for energy efficiency. If you are selling through an Estate Agent, it will probably be able to arrange this for you. If you are not selling through Estate Agents we can provide you with details of some Providers so that you can make your own arrangements. (Please note that we do not have any arrangements with any Providers and will not recommend any particular Provider).
Once the buyer’s Solicitors are satisfied that everything is in order we will proceed to Exchange of Contracts. You will sign your part of the Contract and the Buyer will sign his part of the Contract. Once a date has been agreed for Completion, which is dependant upon whether you are also buying a property and your Buyer is also selling a property, Contracts will be exchanged. This means that your part of the Contract will be sent to the Buyer’s Solicitors and the Buyer’s part of the Contract will be sent to us and there will be a fixed date for completion of your sale. Usually on Exchange of Contract the Buyer will pay a Deposit. The Deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price but may be less if the Buyer is obtaining a mortgage for more than 90% of the purchase price and is agreed by you. Once Contracts have been exchanged, the Buyer must buy and the Seller must sell. If either you or the Buyer wishes to pull out after exchange of contracts penalties will be incurred and action may be taken to force the Sale or the Buyer may forfeit their deposit.
After Exchange of Contracts the Buyer’s Solicitors will carry out a Bankruptcy Search and a Priority Search, these are explained in our section on Buying a Property. We will obtain an up to date Redemption Figure to ensure that the money that we send to your mortgage lender is the correct amount to redeem your mortgage on the day on which we complete your sale. The Buyer’s Solicitors will provide us with a Transfer Deed which is the document that transfers ownership of the property from yourself to your Buyer and which will be signed by you. On the Completion Date (when the buyer passes to the seller the Title Deeds, Keys and other documents in return for the balance of the purchase funds) fixed by the Contract, the Buyer’s Solicitors will send to us the balance of the purchase money (usually the purchase price less 10% deposit already paid). Once the purchase money has been received, the property no longer belongs to you. On receipt of the purchase money we will send to the Buyer’s Solicitors the Transfer Deed, the document which transfers ownership of the property to the buyer, together with our Undertaking (a legally enforceable promise between Solicitors) to discharge your mortgage on the property, any Title Deeds, Guarantees and Indemnity Policies (Insurance policy; the Buyer’s Solicitors may ask for such a policy in the event of say, your property is leasehold but you have not paid the ground rent and do not know who owns it). We will send the redemption money to your mortgage lender and we will authorise your estate agent to hand the keys to the property to the Buyer. If you do not have an estate agent, we will advise you that we have received the purchase money and that you may hand the keys to the Buyer. Unless your property has Tenants (a person who is occupation under the terms of a Lease/Agreement or otherwise renting the property) and your buyer is aware that he is buying tenanted property, you must leave the property, usually by no later than noon, on the completion date and all furniture and other items must be removed other than those that it has been agreed that you will leave behind. We will also pay the Estate Agents Bill from the purchase money unless you have instructed us that you wish to deal with this yourself. We will then account to you for the purchase money and pay to you the Balance of the Proceeds of Sale; this is usually the purchase price less the amount required to redeem your mortgage, the Estate Agents Fees and our costs and disbursements and pay this money to you by cheque in your name. If you wish us to pay the money direct into your bank account, you must supply us with full details of the bank account into which you require the money to be paid together with a bank statement relating to that account. We will then make payment by way of CHAPs Transfer, a same day payment but we will charge you £35 plus VAT.
Throughout all these transactions mentioned above Leon Kaye Solicitors are able to offer a first class personal service.
Email: info@leonkaye.co.uk Telephone: Battersea Office: 020 7228 2020 or Knightsbridge Office: 020 7095 0930