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| Buying property

We deal with all types of residential property purchase, including leasehold purchases.

The main stages in the conveyancing process for property purchases are as follows:

Arrange a mortgage

If you need a mortgage, speaking to a lender early on means that you can find out how much you are likely to be able to borrow and arrange for a mortgage offer in principle to be issued. This can be an advantage if you are in competition with anyone else for a property as it shows that you have carried out some of the initial work and are likely to be ready to proceed without delay.

Instruct a conveyancing solicitor

It can also be beneficial to instruct a conveyancer once you start looking for somewhere to buy. If you would like us to act for you, we will make sure we are ready by opening a file, verifying your identity and letting you have the necessary forms for completion.

We will then be able to start work as soon as the seller’s solicitor lets us have the contract package.

Arrange for a survey to be carried out

Buyers are generally advised to have a survey carried out to check the condition of the property. A lender’s valuation is not in-depth enough to identify issues, so it is usually recommended that a survey is done as well. Should there be areas of concern, you will be able to request an allowance against the purchase price to take into account the cost of remedial action.

Searches and enquiries

Once we receive the contract package, we will go through all of the information and check the legal title. Any questions we have will be sent to the seller’s solicitor and we will also apply for the searches that are needed, which will usually be a local search and drainage enquiries.

Your mortgage lender will send us your mortgage offer and once we have all of the documentation that we need, we can go through everything with you. We will draw your attention to anything unusual in respect of the property or to any concerns we may have.

When you are happy to go ahead, you can sign the mortgage deed and the contract and let us have your deposit. We will then be ready to exchange contracts.

Exchange of contracts and completion

We will liaise with you and your seller’s solicitor, as well as your buyer if you have a related sale, and agree on a date for completion. Contracts can then be exchanged and from then on, the transaction is legally binding and the completion date is set.

We will order your mortgage advance and let you know exactly how much we will need from you to complete.

On the day of completion, we will let you know as soon as the seller has received the money from us and you can then arrange to pick up the keys to your new property from the estate agent.

| Selling property

When you are selling a property, it is important to have property solicitors who will deal with matters promptly. Delays can put a transaction at risk and sales can fall through if information is not sent when it is requested or if problems are not remedied effectively.

We work proactively when dealing with a sale to ensure that your buyer’s solicitor has everything that they need to approve the purchase and reach the exchange of contracts without unnecessary hold-ups.

If you would like us to deal with your sale, you can contact us now, even if you do not yet have an offer on your property. This will allow us to do the preliminary work, including opening a file, carrying out the identity checks that we are required to do and letting you have the initial forms to fill in.

These will include a property information form and a fixtures and fittings list. You may need to find additional documentation to accompany the forms, such as guarantees or planning consents. By getting an early start, you will have plenty of time to find them, so that we will be ready to send out the contract papers as soon as you accept an offer.

Making sure that preliminary work like this is done upfront can reduce the number of weeks it takes to reach the exchange of contracts. This can be crucial if you or anyone else in the chain has a deadline.

| Transferring property

If you want to transfer your property into joint names or from joint names into your sole name, you should ask property solicitors to represent you, to ensure that you understand the effect of the transaction and that your rights and interests are protected.

For example, there are different ways of jointly owning property and it is crucial to choose the right option for your circumstances. If you are contributing a higher amount towards the property, this could be lost if you do not have the correct type of joint ownership.

We can provide the advice you need and handle any other related issues such as liaising with your mortgage lender or dealing with a remortgage.

| Remortgaging property

When a property is remortgaged, the new lender will require the same due diligence work to be carried out as they would on a purchase to ensure that the property represents good security. This means that you will generally need to instruct a solicitor to deal with the transaction.

We are authorised to represent all major high street lenders. We will check the legal title, obtain the property information needed and either carry out the searches that the lender needs or put search indemnity insurance in place.

We know that you may want to complete your remortgage quickly, particularly if you need the funds for a project you are planning or if you want to move to a more beneficial rate. We will do all we can to finalise matters promptly.

| Equity release

An equity release policy allows you to free up some of the capital in your home. In return, you will sign an agreement giving the equity release company a percentage of the property.

This type of contract is complex and by law, you must have independent legal advice before you enter into it. Our team is experienced in dealing with equity release transactions and we will go through all of the terms and conditions with you, explaining them clearly and ensuring that you fully understand the implications.

For more information about our services, see our residential conveyancing solicitors page.