Three Stages of Property Sale When Conveyancing Is Crucial To Sellers
Posted on: 31 August 2016
Placing a piece of property on the market may seem like an easy venture for sellers. However, the truth is that the process of selling your home can be confusing and legally frustrating for anybody. There are several steps along the way that the entire process can break down courtesy of the seller's mistakes. Legally, conveyancing is the process of officially transferring ownership of a home from you, the seller, to the prospective buyer. Several legal processes dot the line between the time you put the property on the market and when you finally hand over the keys to the buyer. Throughout this process, the expertise of a conveyancer will be crucial especially in the following three outlined stages.
Pre contract exchange
It is advisable to seek the services of a conveyancer at about the same time you acquire an estate agent to handle your home sale. The conveyancer does not have to begin though until you have received a formal offer from a buyer. At this stage, you and the conveyancer will complete a questionnaire detailing everything you wish to include in the sale. This is the stage where you will be required to disclose any important details regarding the property such as outstanding cases, boundary disputes, likely developments such as roads, state of sewerage, and even various taxes. This information will be used by conveyancers to draw a drafty contract which will be sent to the buyer or their solicitor. The buyer would then get back to you through their own conveyancing alternative such as a solicitor to negotiate terms of the contract. They may have issues that they observed during their own surveys and would like to negotiate who pays for what. They will also agree to a date of completion of the transaction.
Contract exchange
This stage signifies agreement and both conveyancers on each side have an identical contract ready for your signatures. Exchange of contract means that both you and the buyer have entered a legally binding agreement; should the buyer fail to complete the transaction, you can keep their deposit and also sue them for breach of contract. The same goes for you as the seller. You can no longer receive new offers and can be sued should you pull out of the transaction.
Completion of sale
Once all is complete, conveyancing can be used as the middle ground where all is handed over. From the outstanding balance to the legal documents and even the keys, your conveyancer will act as your extended arm to the buyer. Conveyancing can also be used to handle any outstanding mortgage you have on the property using the proceeds from its sale. The above three stages rely heavily on conveyancing and for any seller, investing well on a conveyancer is one sure way of selling your property stress-free.
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