The legal aspects of buying and selling a house may seem complicated, but Cloud Estates can help to guide you through the conveyancing process
Given the complexity of buying and selling property, it’s perhaps inevitable that a certain amount of industry jargon creeps into conversations between agents and our customers. At Cloud Estates, we try to keep things as simple as possible for our clients, but you’ll still hear us referring to concepts like the conveyancing process.
The conveyancing process describes the legal steps required to transfer ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer. It generally takes three to four months, or slightly longer when purchasing a leasehold property, which requires additional checks and documentation. Sellers also have to do some conveyancing, but we’ve focused below on the process of buying a property – the more complex and time-consuming side of the transaction. This is what a conveyancing expert will do for you…
- Examine documents.
Once you appoint someone to handle conveyancing, they’ll examine various legal documents and raise any queries which arise with the selling party’s solicitor. This happens behind the scenes and can take a while. That’s frustrating if you’re keen to complete quickly, but it’s necessary to ensure there are no nasty surprises, such as compulsory factoring charges.
- Arrange a survey.
Mortgage lenders rarely approve loans on properties without a survey. In England, it’s up to the buyers to choose how detailed they’d like their survey to be. There are five tiers, but a Level 2 RICS Home Survey or RPSA Home Condition Survey should be comprehensive enough for most property transactions.
- Conduct property searches.
This is another behind-the-scenes stage, where your solicitor conducts detailed legal checks to ensure the property you’re buying isn’t likely to give you any undue trouble. They’ll explore areas like flood risk, historic ownership and local council planning schemes. The cost of conducting these searches should be clearly stated up front, as part of the total conveyancing fee.
- Conduct a valuation.
Unless you’re a cash buyer, the conveyancing process will require a mortgage valuation on the property. A more complex version of the valuations Cloud Estates undertakes, this ensures any lender will have enough equity to underwrite a loan. Buildings insurance for the estimated value of the property also needs to be arranged, though you don’t need contents insurance yet.
- Sign-off.
Once your solicitor’s questions have been answered, they’ll ask if you still want to go ahead with the purchase. Reasons for pulling out might include a survey identifying structural issues, or the mortgage lender undervaluing the property. If you’re happy to go ahead, set a completion date and arrange to pay a non-refundable deposit (usually ten per cent of the property’s value).
Finally, it’s the day when you and the seller exchange contracts – through your solicitors, of course. This happens at a set date and time but might be reliant on other people in a property chain exchanging first. As soon as contracts are exchanged, you’re legally obliged to buy the property, while the seller can’t withdraw from the market or demand a higher price.
Also known as ‘moving day’ in many cases, this is the mutually agreed date when you transfer the balance of payment to the seller’s solicitors. In return, they release the keys for your home. It generally happens around midday on a Friday. Afterwards, there’ll be a few loose ends to tie up, such as your name being recorded as the property’s new legal owner at the Land Registry.
Whether you’re selling or buying, Cloud Estates is here to support and guide you through the conveyancing process. Get in touch with us for more information on how we can simplify the process of selling and buying property in Newcastle and across the north-east.
