Selling your Property

You have decided to Sell your Property,
What happens next?

Step 1: Appoint your Estate Agent/ Auctioneer
Once you have appointed your Estate Agent, your property will be placed on the open market to be sold usually by either Private Treaty or if there is significant interest in your property by Auction.

Step 2: Appoint your Solicitor
While your property is ‘For Sale’ and being viewed you should make arrangements to consult with and appoint a solicitor for the transaction. Your Solicitor will explain the legal nature of the selling process to you and will advise you on the next steps to take. At this time, your Solicitor will also send you out documentation for you to read and sign. One of these documents is called, ‘a client’s authority’ and once you sign and return this to your Solicitor she can apply to your Bank to take up your Title Deeds for the Sale. If you have no mortgage on your property you will probably have your Title Deeds at home or in a place of safe-keeping and you should arrange to give these to your Solicitor.

Step 3: ‘Sale Agreed’ & Contracts Sent to Purchaser’s Solicitor
Once your Estate Agent has found a Purchaser to your satisfaction at an agreed sale price, your property is deemed to be ‘Sale Agreed’. The Purchaser will then place a Booking Deposit set by the Estate Agent down to hold the Property. The Estate Agent will then forward the Purchaser’s details to your Solicitor. Your Solicitor will then Draft the Contracts for Sale from your Title Deeds and Instructions and forward the Contracts to the Purchaser’s Solicitors for signing.

Step 4: Contracts are Returned to your Solicitor
Once the Purchaser has signed the Contracts, his solicitor will send the two sets of Contracts together with the agreed balance of deposit money to the your Solicitor. Around this time a Closing date will be set between all parties and written into the Contracts. Certain special conditions may also be negotiated between the parties e.g regarding Contents or a Defect on title to be rectified by Closing.

Step 5: You Sign Contracts for Sale- Sale Legally Binding
Your Solicitor will then ask you to attend her office to sign the Contracts and she will then send one part back to the Purchaser’s Solicitor. This is the moment when the Sale becomes legally binding and any deposit money paid by the Purchaser becomes non-refundable.

Step 6: Proceed to Completion
The Purchaser’s Solicitor will then raise a Standard set of what called ‘Objections & Requisitions on Title’ for the Vendor’s Solicitor to answer. Your Solicitor and the Purchaser’s Solicitor will then prepare the Closing documents for signing and your Solicitor will ask you to attend her office to sign same in advance of the set closing date. At this time, your Solicitor will order any redemption figures they require for closing from your lending institution, local authority or management Company on title.

Step 7: Day of Closing
On the day of Closing, the Purchaser’s Solicitor will forward the balance of the Sale Price to your Solicitor’s office and your Solicitor will then release the Title Documents, Keys & Vacant Possession to the Purchaser’s Solicitor for the purchaser’s benefit. During the Closing your Solicitor will also be required to answer the Purchaser’s solicitors Law Searches and explain any acts that appear on same to the Purchaser’s Solicitor’s satisfaction. This part of the closing can sometimes take a few hours to complete depending on the title involved. Your solicitor will be in contact with you throughout the Closing Process and will notify you as soon as the closing as completed.

Step 8 : After Completion
After the Closing has taken place, your Solicitor must redeem any existing Mortgages or Charges e.g service charges that affect the property in sale. You will then become entitled to the balance of the Sale Proceeds and your Solicitor will give you a detailed Statement of Account to finalise the transaction for you.