Selling
Selling - The Procedure

If you are the seller of a house (or flat) you must find your buyer either by private sale or through an estate agent. You should contact your local solicitor or conveyancer as soon as you decide to sell so that they can prepare a contract whilst the buyer is found. At this time the conveyancer will give you a likely idea of the costs associated with the sale and ask you to sign a terms and conditions document. You should let your estate agent know which solicitor is acting for you, some even offer special deals with local firms.

Deeds are not as important as they used to be, particularly as regards to new properties, but if your solicitors or mortgage company do not already have them and they are in your possission, you should pass them to your conveyancer. If your property is mortgaged your conveyancer will need to know your account numbers and mortgage providers details as well.

At this stage you will probably be sent a questionnaire document about you and your house, you will also be asked to complete a fixtures and fittings document, this is an inventory of items that are being included in the sale and those which you intend to take with you when you move.

When a buyer has been found the estate agent will contact your conveyancer and provide them with the other sides details. Your conveyancer will then liase with the othersides conveyancer and draft a contract together for your approval.

Before long you will be contacted by a surveror and will be asked to arrange a time for a surveyor to visit. Depending upon the type of survey your buyers have opted for this can be anything from a half hour visit to a full day. Don't be surprised if you receive a few requests for information from the other side, many solicitors ask for additional information about the property.

After any questions posed by the buyers solicitors have been answered, and assuming all went OK with the survey you will be asked to sign and approve the contract. This is usually done either via the post or at the conveyancers branch office.

When the buyer is able to proceed (this may depend upon their buyer) a move date, usually referred to as completion date is fixed, this date is also fixed with any other properties in the chain. This is the date on which you must give possession of the house to the buyer and he must pay the balance due through your conveyancer.

Once this is arranged, contracts can then be exchanged, at which time you will be committed to the sale and your buyer committed to the purchase - neither of you can now withdraw without being liable to damages. Contracts are usually exchanged by telephone and the buyers solicitors will often send a 10% deposit of the sale price.