Conveyancing process

Once the sale of your property has been agreed your estate agent will forward any relevant paperwork to Alfred Ledger & Sons. We will provide you with a simple instruction form which will enable us to gather all of the required details about you and your house.

Valuation & Marketing
Organise your mortgage (If you currently have a mortgage notify your lender of the intention to sell)
Check your energy Performance certificate (if you don’t have a valid EPC you can get this arranged through an estate agent or you can arrange for this to be carried by yourself)
Get your property valued
Set the asking price
Put your property on the market (if you choose to do this with an estate agent you will be entered into a legally binding contract which contains terms and requires them to pass on all offers in writing)
Find a conveyancer

Documentation
Gather your documents.
Complete the forms.

Sale agreed
Consider all the offers
Once all offers you accept a satisfactory offer instruct the agent to take the property off the market.
Request the contract from the conveyancer.
Answer any queries about the property that the conveyancer is likely to receive from the buyer’s conveyancer.
Negotiate a completion date via the conveyancer this date will be influenced by anything flagged up by the survey and length of the chain.

Contracts & Completion
Review contract with your conveyancer (before signing the contract check the document thoroughly and check the plan to see the full extent of the property and land are shown and that all details are correct).
Exchange contracts
Completion and final steps (money is transferred and you accept payment the property changes ownership).
Remove everything from the property
Mortgage and fees (your conveyancer will also pay off the mortgage for you, using the money transferred from the buyer; pay the estate agents fees (if previously agreed by you); take their own agreed fees and either pay the net proceeds to you, or use the funds for your related purchase if you are buying another property at the same time).

Initially you need to inform your estate agent and mortgage provider / broker with Alfred Ledger & Son’s details. Your sellers property lawyer will contact us directly.

Survey & Searches

1. Arrange a survey (consider a full structural survey or a home buyers report).
2. Your Conveyancer will submit searches (to check local or planning issues).
3. Lender will perform a valuation (lenders surveyor will carry out a valuation to see if property’s value is sufficient).
4. Check the EPC certificate (will be available from estate agent).

Finalise the offer and mortgage.

Checks & negotiations

1. Instruct the Lender to proceed (Once the mortgage has been proved, contact your lender to proceed).
2. Mention any specific requirements to the conveyancer (for example planning extensions).
3. Review any title and contract issues (your conveyancer will raise enquiries with regards to any issues revealed in contract, searches and title documents).
4. Negotiate a completion date.

Contracts & completion

1. Review contract with conveyancer (A contract will be sent to you for signing, together with the Transfer, Mortgage Deed (where applicable) and any other required documents).
2. Exchange contracts (Once you have exchanged contracts, both you and the seller are legally committed to the transaction and your deposit will be paid).
3. Negotiate a completion date.
4. Obtain building insurance.
5. Completion and final steps (Your mortgage money is received by your conveyancer and purchase funds are transferred to the seller’s conveyancer, keys are then handed over to the estate agent, your conveyancer will submit the stamp duty land tax and they will register purchase and mortgage with the land registry).

How long this takes will vary from case to case.  An average transaction is likely to take 2 to 3 months from instruction to exchange of contracts.  However, there is no definitive answer as it all depends on the circumstances, for example,  a leasehold transaction will often add 2 to 4 weeks, and the time taken will also depend on the length of the chain involved.   During the course of the transaction we will keep you informed  and be able to give you a better indication as to the likely timescale.

Once we have received contract documentation from your sellers Lawyer we can obtain the local authority, water and other searches (where relevant) and make enquiries regarding disputes, boundaries, planning permissions and constraints etc.

At this stage your lender will send your mortgage offer to us.  Alfred Ledger & Sons act on behalf of your lender and are responsible for explaining the terms and conditions of the offer. You will then receive the mortgage deed for approval, signing and returning to us. We will then agree a completion date for the sale / purchase.

The exchange of contracts takes place by Alfred Ledger & Sons and the buyers / sellers Lawyers. Both yourself and the buyer / seller are now legally committed to the transaction. Deposits must also be made on the day of exchange.

The day you have been waiting for.  We transfer the balance of money to the seller, draw down funds on your new mortgage and discharge any on your old mortgage. We deal with any stamp duty payable to the HMRC and pay your estate agent (where instructed). We then arrange for the legal documentation to be sent to the Land Registry to transfer the ownership to you and tie up any final administration issues. We will finally let the Estate Agent know ……you can have the keys ……