Conveyancing process selling
By
HuutiMoney
In this brief blog, we are going to talk about the conveyance process when selling a house.
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the process undertaken by a legal expert when selling a house to ensure that the legal aspects of the home are fine and there aren’t any restrictive covenants or important legal matters that may damage your home in the future or reduce the value of your home in the future. The cost of the conveyancing process when selling is slightly cheaper than when buying but will range from £250 to £1000 (it can be more) based on the value of the property.
You may be able to do the conveyancing process when selling yourself but it may be better to avoid doing this as it may leave you liable for any errors. You can choose to use a no move no fee conveyancer when selling your home if you are concerned about the cost and losing money if the sale doesn’t come to fruition.
What is conveyancing when selling a house?
When selling a house the conveyancing process really involves you being able to manage the buying process, the process of receiving the funds from your house sale( the buyer’s conveyancer will send these funds) and the legal work involved with transferring ownership over to the property buyer.
Do I need a conveyancer when selling?
Yes, you may need a conveyancer when selling your home as there are many aspects of the home selling process which may benefit or need a conveyancer.
How long does conveyancing take no chain?
If there is no chain then conveyancing can take anywhere from 1 week to up to 4 weeks. The delays in conveyancing are primarily due to the number of third parties where information has to be sourced from. When there is a chain involved then conveyancing can take up to the standard 12 weeks and even more.
When selling a house when do you get paid?
When selling a house you will get paid after the completion period when the home has been sold
How long does the conveyancing process take?
The conveyancing process can take from between eight and 12 weeks but this can be significantly reduced and the conveyancing process may take less based on the speed of third parties such as the Land registry.
What happens after I sell my house?
After you sell your house the conveyancer will record the sale with the land registry and you will receive the proceeds from the sale from your conveyancer if you don’t have any mortgage balance owed on the property.
If you have a mortgage balance then your conveyancer will have requested a mortgage redemption statement from your mortgage provider and then paid them what is owed before sending you whatever is leftover.
The conveyancing process when selling
The conveyancing process when selling goes like this:
- Instruct the conveyancer
- Conveyancer sends draft contracts to buyer
- Conveyancer will provide replies to buyer
- Conveyancer will send you contracts for signing
- Contracts are exchanged
- Completion
We will now go into more detail on each point on the conveyancing process when selling.
Instruct the Conveyancer
Your first step in the conveyance selling process is to instruct a conveyancer to work for you when selling your home.
Your conveyancer will provide you with their terms of business and request from you to send the below details before the conveyance selling process can begin. The things requested will include:
Your identification documents such as your driving license or passport.
A signed form or letter instructing your conveyancer. The conveyancing process cannot start without this signed letter.
A completed fixture and fittings form
A completed client information form- this is similar to a mortgage fact find but for conveyancing.
A list of property questionnaires.
Some of the property questionnaires which you may need to answer include:
“The (TA 6) is a general questionnaire and includes information on boundaries, disputes and complaints (like reported noisy neighbour complaints or boundary disputes), known proposed developments (like motorways or railways), building works, council tax, utilities, sewerage, contact details.
If you do not own the freehold you should give more information on either the leasehold (TA 7) or the commonhold (TA9)
The (TA 10) provides details of which fittings and fixtures you would like to include with the property
The (TA 13) is more technical, but also includes finalisation details including arrangements to hand over the keys, how and where you will complete, and ensuring that the house is free of all mortgages and liability claims”
Completing this form as soon as possible will make the conveyancing process when selling move faster.
You should also send your conveyancer copies of any documents which are mentioned on any of the TA forms.
Conveyancer sends draft contracts to the buyer
After onboarding you as part of the conveyancing selling process, your conveyancer will then apply to the land registry for office copies entry. You conveyancer will then prepare a draft contract on your behalf and then send this to you to review. Your conveyancer will then send this to the seller’s conveyancer to be reviewed. Before drafting the contracts your conveyancer will likely have discussed with you to find out if there is any information you think may be useful outside of the information you have provided during the onboarding stage of the conveyancing process when selling a home.
Conveyancer will provide replies to the buyer
Once this has been done the buyer’s conveyancer will have some questions which they will send to you through your conveyancer. This is a routine part of the conveyancing process when selling and you will simply need to provide responses to these questions and give them to your conveyancer who will review them and send them to the buyer’s conveyancer.
In some cases, your conveyancer may be more fit to answer the question and will do this and provide their answers for you to review before sending these answers to the buyers conveyancer as part of the conveyancing process when selling.
Conveyancer will send you contracts for signing
Once this stage of the conveyancing process when selling has been completed your conveyancer will send you the contracts which need to be signed after they have been reviewed and confirmed as satisfactory by the buyer’s conveyancer. If you are happy with the contract you should sign them and return them to your conveyancer. If you are not happy with the contract then send your comments to your conveyancer and they will look to address them.
Contracts are exchanged
Your conveyancer will receive the signed contracts from the seller’s conveyancer and will then receive and agree on a completion date with the buyer’s conveyancer.
As part of the exchange of contracts process, your conveyancer will receive the draft transfer from the buyer’s conveyancer. Your conveyancer will approve this on your behalf and send you the final transfer for you to sign.
Completion
At this point, you have now sold your home. Your conveyancer will pay any estate agent fees due from the sale and give you an account of all monies received from the sale and send you the money due to you. At this point then conveyancing process when selling a home is finished.
On the completion date, you must leave the property at a time agreed with the buyer and make all the arrangements for when and where to hand over the keys to the property as well as an inventory list(if required). These arrangements will usually be made through the estate agent who is managing some parts of the sales process for you. The buyer’s conveyancer will have sent over the proceeds from the sale to your conveyancer already. You will also have been required to use sign an undertaking that you will use the proceeds of the sale to discharge any mortgage which you currently have on the property. In most cases, the seller’s conveyancer may pay the mortgage balance on the property before sending you any balance which is left.
As you can see from this guide on the conveyancing process when selling, there is an enormous benefit in having a conveyancer when selling your home. If you have any questions or comments please let us know.
If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.
You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.