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A few points to guide you through the selling of your home
Booking a market valuation on your property
Just telephone our office and an appointment will be booked into our diary at a time to suit you Monday to Saturday 9 am-6 pm, later if required.
We will then come out to your property have a look around, sit down and discuss the value with you and also our services and fees. The valuer that comes out to see you will also be more than happy to go through and give you a good idea of what it will actually cost to sell your property and purchase a new one. Also if it is a related purchase you will need further advice from a Financial Adviser how better to increase your mortgage. Once this is agreed we will then measure up and describe your home, take digital colour photographs of the interior and exterior. This will normally take 1-1 1/2 hrs depending on the size of your property and the grounds attaching.
Placing your property on the market
Once you have read through your details and you are happy with them, under the property misdescriptions act you are obliged to make any amendments that you feel are necessary then sign and return them to us along with your signed Agency Agreement.
Viewings
Once your property has been placed on our websites and an advertising schedule has been allocated and potential purchasers advised of your property any prospective purchaser will book an appointment through us and we will accompany at all times 7 days a week. Normally we will have discussed with you at our first point of contact that the best way to maximise viewings is a realistic asking price, and a well presented neat and tidy property.
Appointing A Solicitor
It is a good idea to use a local solicitor as he knows the area well and this will be helpful with the local searches etc. Do remember when the solicitor gives you an estimate of his fees that the one who quotes the lowest fee is not necessarily the one to use. We are happy to recommend good solicitors who we trust and have worked with very effectively to ensure a smooth and trouble free transaction. He will ask you to read through and sign his terms of engagement and answer any queries which you may have.
Which Offer Should I Accept?
Having carried out a period of marketing and viewings on your property hopefully we will then have some offers to put forward to you. We will normally contact you by telephone to discuss these and then put it in writing to you, this is a legal requirement. Once you have had an opportunity to consider the offers please confirm to us the one you would like to proceed with. It would be prudent at this time to agree if any fitted carpets, curtains or fixtures and fittings are to be included in the purchase price or if they are to form a separate transaction.
Writing To All Parties To Confirm That The Sale Is Agreed
Assuming that we have all necessary details of both parties we confirm to everyone what has been agreed. You will receive a copy of this which is called a Memorandum of Sale, it should however be pointed out that this is subject to contract and at this stage either party is able to withdraw from the sale/purchase.
Mortgage Valuation/Home Buyers/Structural Survey
The purchaser surveyor will ring us to arrange an appointment to visit your home and we will offer him a set of your details and three comparables of similar types of properties sold which he will require to justify the price that you purchaser is paying. Once the survey has been carried out the report will be sent to your purchaser. If there is anything substantially wrong the purchaser may contact us to try to renegotiate the price at which stage we would ask to see copies of the relevant part of the survey.
Filling In The Relevant Forms
Your solicitor will forward a package to you which will include property information forms i.e. all information required to do with your home (any alterations, extensions etc, fixtures or fittings to be included or excluded or separate payment required). Once you have filled these in he will forward them to the purchaser solicitors. Your solicitor will also enquire of you where your title deeds are or ask for your mortgage roll number if this is applicable. Please return all the details to him as soon as possible otherwise it will inevitably hold your sale up.
Preparation Of Draft Contracts
Once your solicitor has obtained the title deeds from bank/building society he will forward the draft contract with office copy entries to the purchaser solicitor. The bank/building society will need your written authority to release the deeds to your solicitor. Once draft contracts have been received by the purchaser solicitor they will request a land registry search and start preliminary enquires and read through any other paperwork necessary i.e. all the forms you completed earlier, planning consent guarantees for any work done to your property, building regulations or in the case of Apartments copy of lease and share of freehold certificates. Your solicitor may then require further information from you which he will write and request. Timescale on all of this can vary considerably anything from 6 - 10 weeks!
Leasehold Flats
The managing agent for the apartments would normally have requested of him that he sends service charges over the last few years, building insurance certificate and also confirmation of any share certificates to your solicitor.
Approving The Contract
On receipt of the answers to the preliminary enquiry, local searches etc in the absence of no further enquires your solicitor subject to the lending source being satisfied will approve the contract.
Receipt Of Mortgage Offer
Hopefully by now the purchaser should have received their mortgage offer their solicitor will not exchange contracts until they have a written mortgage offer.
Signing Your Contract
You must sign your contract before exchange unless you have made special arrangements with your solicitors i.e. given him power of attorney for him to do so, on your behalf.
Agree A Completion Date
Obtain various quotes from removal companies, we can recommend a number of these who people have used and were happy with their services. Check their availability but do not book formally until you have agreed an exchange date and completion date with your solicitor and all the other parties involved.
Exchange Of Contract
Once the contract is approved by the purchasers solicitor and the mortgage offer is received in writing by the solicitor the contract is then signed by both parties and the deposit anywhere between 5% and 10% of the purchase price is either telegraphically transferred or paid by the purchasers solicitor to your solicitor.
You have now legally exchanged the sale/purchase and if you withdraw for any reason you would stand to suffer a financial loss. The completion date is now also set. At this stage you should confirm to your chosen removal company that you have indeed exchanged contracts and also confirm the completion date to them.
Inform Utilities And Send Out Change Of Address Cards
Write and confirm to all relevant companies and arrange for the meters to be read on completion day you may also need to re-direct your mail so as nothing important goes astray.
Completion Day
This normally takes place 1 to 2 weeks after exchange or to suit parties, the remaining monies are transferred from the purchasers account to your solicitor's account. Once these are received your solicitor will ring us and give permission to release any keys we hold for your property. Formal completion generally takes place anywhere between 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock depending on how busy the banking system is that particular day.
Congratulations on your new home if in the future you require any further advice re extending or on any other property matter please do not hesitate to contact us where we should be delighted to help.