Conveyancing Solicitor London
Conveyancing solicitor London do so much more than pushing paper, but you’d be forgiven for thinking they are only involved in the paperwork when it comes to buying a home. In reality, they transfer title deeds, arrange searches, and offer invaluable legal advice when issues arise in a survey or from searches.
A conveyancing solicitor undertakes the sale and purchase process on your behalf, no matter where you live, you’ll always find someone, like Property Solicitors Manchester, Newcastle, or Ipswich. Besides having specialist skills and experience in the conveyancing process, they have wider training in other areas of law. This additional knowledge might come in useful if a complex problem crops up.
The key role of a conveyancing solicitor is to ensure the transaction goes through legally. They keep the process moving, update you on the next steps, and answer any problems or concerns you might have.
Initial stages
After you have agreed to a purchase price and your offer has been accepted, the conveyancing ball starts rolling. An offer is not legally binding on either buyer or seller until contracts are exchanged, which on average, takes around 8-12 weeks.
Seller
Once you have found a conveyancing solicitor, they will ask for the title deeds on the property. You may hold these yourself if you own the property outright or have lodged them with a solicitor.
If you have a mortgage, your mortgage provider will hold the title deeds and they will send them to your conveyancing solicitor upon request.
A seller will need to check and approve the property information form. This outlines everything that will be included in the sale which is then encompassed within the draft contract.
A seller’s conveyancing solicitor will also liaise with the buyer’s legal adviser regarding any concerns or queries about the property.
Buyer
If you are the buyer, your conveyancing solicitor will liaise with your mortgage provider, work out whether Stamp Duty Land Tax needs to be paid, and if so, how much, and will carry out searches on the property. The searches tell you certain things about the area and confirm the purchase is as expected.
Drafting contracts to completion
Exchanging contracts makes the sale legally binding, although there are several stages to pass before this happens.
Firstly, your conveyancing solicitor will provide a draft contract for you to agree and sign. The draft contract outlines the Particulars of Sale, Conditions of Sale, and the agreed date of completion. The draft contract is then sent to the buyer’s conveyancer. Once it has been approved by all parties to the sale and purchase, it will be drawn up for you to sign.
After the contract has been signed, both conveyancers will exchange contracts. At this stage, the buyer’s deposit is transferred.
On the completion date, — when the property is legally transferred from one party to the other — the buyer’s conveyancing solicitor transfers any outstanding monies to the seller’s solicitor. The completion date is usually the date the seller needs to vacate the property and pass the keys onto the estate agent to hand to the new owners.
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