Contact a solicitor (we can recommend some local firms if you do not know of any), request a quote and if you are happy to proceed instruct them to act on your behalf.
Your Solicitor will open a file and send out letters to you including a Sellers Property Information Form, Client Information Form and Client Agreement Form, which will detail costs agreed and set out procedures for your information.
You will need to return the signed Client Information Form, Sellers Property Information Forms, Client Agreement, Identification and a payment to cover initial costs to your solicitor as soon as possible. Until your solicitor receives this information from you they will not continue any further. If you are holding title deeds to your property you must also send these to you solicitor at this point.
Once the relevant title documents are received a draft contract and all supporting documentation will be sent to your buyer's solicitor. Your solicitor should write to you confirming this has been done and may also advise your selling agent.
Once the relevant title documents are received a draft contract and all supporting documentation will be sent to your buyer’s solicitor. Your solicitor should write to you confirming this has been done and may also advise your selling agent. On receipt of the contract your buyer's solicitors will approve the contract and raise any enquiries they may have on the property.
If it is a Leasehold property they will also raise enquiries to the Landlord/Managing Agent. A letter will be sent to you with any enquiries you need to answer.
Once all replies to enquiries are received they are sent to the buyer’s solicitors who will check them. They may then raise additional enquiries. Once they are satisfied with the replies to enquiries they will report to their client with the contract for signature. Your Solicitor will write to you confirming this and at that time send the contract to you for your signature.
Once your solicitor has received the signed contract back from you and has confirmation that the buyer's solicitors have reported to their client with the contract, you will be requested to put forward any suggested dates for moving, if this has not already been discussed (the completion date).
Once the completion date is agreed the solicitors will contact each other to advise they are ready to exchange, if there is a chain involved this will be checked with the rest of the parties involved.
Solicitors will now exchange contracts. On exchange the signed contracts are passed from one solicitor to the other. The terms of exchange are agreed by telephone and the contracts dated and timed. At this point exchange is deemed to have taken place and the contract becomes binding upon all parties and the completion date is fixed.
Once Solicitors have exchanged they will write to you and the buyer's solicitors confirming exchange and will send you a Transfer Deed to sign. A letter will be sent to the Estate Agents requesting their commission account for settlement and a Final Statement of Account will be prepared setting out all the financial details.
If you are selling a leasehold property there may be service charges and ground rent to be paid. You Solicitor will request the up-to-date position from your Landlord/Managing Agent and you will be advised immediately if any further sum is required from you to cover the same.
On the day of completion the buyer's solicitors will send the completion monies to your solicitor and will telephone to confirm the money is on its way. On receipt of the money you will be advised that completion has now taken place and you will be requested to hand the keys to the Estate Agents for collection by the buyers if you have not already done so.
Any monies due to settle the mortgage are sent direct to the mortgage company with a Discharge Document to be sealed and returned.
On receipt of the sealed discharge from the mortgage company your solicitor will send it on to the buyer’s solicitors to discharge all undertakings given and finalise the matter and close the file.
