Conveyancing by its very nature can be a particularly stressful experience for anyone. What might help for a seller know to make it rather less high octane?
First of all, try and keep the whole thing local to you – as regards your buyer, your selling agents and your solicitor. Personal relationships and being able to `see’ someone can speedily cut the communication Gordian knot and keeps the show on the road.
Second, get to know these three vital people involved in your sale – your buyer, selling agents and solicitor. Assess their expectations of the transaction and communicate yours to them at the very earliest date possible and be clear and frank if these expectations may change as the matter moves forward. If there are problems on your part which may delay matters, discuss them as soon as you become aware of them in a calm and open manner rather than have them emerge as an unwelcome surprise later on. Trust has often saved a difficult sale – lack of it has often caused a sale to collapse.
Do not rely on adverts to choose your selling agent or solicitor – seek recommendations from trusted friends who have already sold. Ideally obtain detailed fee quotations from at least three agents and solicitors but remember the obvious – the cheapest is not always the best.
Meet those involved if possible and talk your transaction through with them openly – only engage them if you feel that you can work with them. Make sure that your chosen solicitor fully explains to you the meaning of such phrases as “exchange of contracts” and “completion” together with their implications as well as the rights and responsibilities that goes alongside them. Jargon is a sad fact of life – particularly in the law – so make sure you feel confident that your solicitor will be able to explain the process along the way.
Third, be prepared to be flexible with your timetable as the process develops. Conveyancing is very much a journey. You know where you are starting from and your intended destination but the road between the two may look different and alter as unforeseen events happen which they inevitably do. To parody the Monty Python team – “always expect the unexpected”!
Make no decision on dates of exchange or completion without first discussing whether they are possible with your solicitor – your solicitor is the one in charge of the legal mechanics of the operation and the one to make sure everything can come together.
Fourth, if the property you are selling is mortgaged, check with your lender/lenders what is owing to them and be sure that any agreed sale price covers these figures, your agents’ fees and your solicitors’ costs and disbursements. Importantly you should ensure that having taken all these figures into account, the sale will give you the balance you are expecting from it and you are in budget.
Fifth, paperwork. Although your actual title may be electronically registered at the Land Registry, if you do have any paper title deeds or similar paper documentation relating to title, let your chosen solicitor have them as soon as possible. These may contain useful documents – perhaps Statutory Declarations, Statements of Truth or title indemnity insurance policies. These documents can help make any issues on your legal title clearer or show what has been done before to resolve any queries and it is important that your solicitor knows of any such issues as soon as possible.
In addition, check you have copies of all planning consents, Listed Building consents and Building Regulation Completion Certificates, build warranties or other certificates for the original construction of your property, any subsequent alteration or addition to the property or works carried out. Pass all of those you have into your solicitor and let them know if there are gaps in the paperwork and what works these gaps relate to.
Similarly check whether you have copies of all current warranties and associated paperwork relating to such matters as woodworm and rot treatment as well as white goods which are to be included in the sale. Again, you should pass all these documents into your solicitor together with current service reports for the electrics, gas installations and log burners at the earliest possible date.
In conclusion, a few final points:-
- Do not expect to have it all your own way or expect the transaction to proceed in accordance with your wishes. Conveyancing – like life – does not work like that, it involves compromise as you go and it really is a journey.
- Do not make any misrepresentations – either deliberately or by omission. Misrepresentations can lead to a contract being set aside, an action for damages or both. It is in your own interests to be as honest and as truthful as you can be throughout. Truth is safety!
- Unless you are selling subject to an existing tenancy, you will be selling with vacant possession on completion and the house will need to be clean and clear of all your belongings. Before you exchange and are legally bound to the sale, you must make sure that you will be able to this `vacant possession’. If you are unable to do so, there will be awkward and unwelcome consequences for you as you may face interest charges, damages for any costs incurred by the buyers and the wider chain if you cannot complete and, ultimately, the possible loss of the sale in extreme cases.
For further information, please contact Rod Lewis on 01626 202376 or email rodlewis@wbw.co.uk.
WBW Solicitors has offices in Axminster, Bovey Tracey, Brixham, Chard, Exeter, Exmouth, Honiton, Launceston, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Seaton, Sidmouth, and Torquay.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.
