Passmores - Conveyancing

We know that buying and selling houses can be a very stressful experience.

We aim to make the whole procedure as painless as possible by providing you with a quick and efficient service.

WHAT WE WILL DO?

Keep you fully informed of the progress of your transaction.

Explain each step of the transaction to you.

Liase with your mortgage broker, estate agent and the other solicitor.

Undertake all the legal work for your purchase.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

The average purchase takes six to eight weeks. Many happen quicker that this, others can take a little longer. One of the main reasons for this is that usually the seller will be buying another house and their seller's may be buying a house etc. This is known as "the conveyancing chain". Any delay that may arise is often in waiting for all parties in the chain to be ready.

HOW DO YOU BUY A HOUSE?

There are six stages to buying a house.

STAGE ONE….Find the house you want to buy. Make an offer.

STAGE TWO….The offer is accepted. The estate agents will send details of the sale to the seller's and buyer's solicitors. The seller's solicitor will obtain the deeds of the property and send out a contract to the buyer's solicitor. At this stage the buyers should be applying for a mortgage. The buyer's solicitor will make contact with the buyer and ask for a cheque to pay for the various searches.

STAGE THREE….The survey is carried out. Buyers are recommended to have their own survey because the survey obtained by the building society or bank will be a valuation survey only and is for their benefit only and cannot be relied upon by the buyer. Whilst this is happening the buyer's solicitors will be checking the legal documents sent by the seller's solicitor and ascertaining whether there are guarantees for damp, dry rot etc.

STAGE FOUR….The mortgage offer arrives. The buyer's solicitor will check to see if the offer contains any special requirements. The results of the local search will be checked and the buyers will attend at their solicitor's office to go through the legal paperwork, mortgage offer and associated documentation to purchase the property.

STAGE FIVE….The contracts will be signed by the seller and buyer at their respective solicitors offices. Once the buyer's solicitor has checked that all the documents are in order and that all the terms of the mortgage offer have been complied with, he will tell the seller's solicitor that he is ready to exchange contracts. If there is a chain then the seller's solicitors will check that the other parties in the chain are ready to exchange contracts. If they are, then the solicitors will telephone each other and, by following a strict form of legal wording, will agree that contracts have been exchanged and agree to post their client's signed contract to each other that night together with the deposit which is usually 10% of the purchase price. It is important to note that at any time up to this exchange telephone conversation between the solicitors, either the buyer or seller may back out of the sale. Once the solicitors telephone conversation has taken place, the buyer must buy the property and the seller must sell to the buyer.

STAGE SIX….Completion! The day you move. When the contracts were exchanged a completion date was agreed. Completion day is the day when the buyer's solicitor will send the balance of the purchase money to the seller's solicitor. The seller will move out of the property and will leave the keys with the estate agent. The buyer then collects the keys and moves in!