Residential Property Conveyancing
Residential Property Conveyancing
We take time to get to know your business and your objectives and with significant experience in the sector, we can advise on a range of residential property matters. We understand your priority is to find a solution which is efficient and cost-effective, so we work hard offering our expertise to support your business needs.
Every conveyancing matter can differ in complexity and time depending on personal circumstances, location or property type, so every experience may be different. Your conveyancer will provide you with a personalised service, keeping you fully informed of the process, what to expect and what timescales are realistic in your situation.
While not every experience will be the same, to give you an idea of what to expect in a ‘typical’ transaction, we have put together a handy guide for you:
Conveyancing: A Comprehensive Guide for Property Buyers and Sellers
If you would like to speak to one of our conveyancing experts, please complete the form below and someone will be in touch, or call us on 0161 826 7574
To speak to the team call Warren on 0161 826 7574 or email warren@prosperitylaw.com
What to expect when you’re selling your home
The first step is to instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf when you’re selling your home. This is one of the most important decisions you will make as this person will represent your interests throughout the sale. We recommend having a think about what services are being offered, what the cost looks like and what your budget allows. We would never recommend automatically choosing the cheapest conveyancing service, you want to make sure the service is the best fit for you.
All of our prospective new clients receive what we like to call ‘client care documents’. Essentially, these documents tell us what we need to know to help support you through the sale process. Once you have returned your signed client care paperwork, identity documents and questionnaire, we can begin acting for you. Initially there might be some small charges to cover payments such as land registry documents and electronic ID checks. We do this at the start to make sure your costs are covered from the get-go, meaning you don’t have to keep making payments to us, and we don’t have any unnecessary hold ups. Don’t worry, your conveyancer will keep you right, and will inform you of any and all charges up front so there are no nasty surprises!
Another key document included in the client care welcome pack is the property form. We’ll ask you to complete this form so we capture all the information you have about your property which the buyer might need. There are a few ways you can complete and return the form to us – it’s completely up to you. We try to make the process as simple for you as possible so it can be completed online, sent to us by post, in person, or by email. The form is a legal document so if you have any questions or queries, or you’re unsure on any of the content, please feel free to contact your conveyancer, we’ll be more than happy to help advise how you fill this out.
At this point, if you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to provide your estate agent with our details so they can send us a memorandum of sale. The memorandum of sale is a written confirmation of all the details of the property transaction, the estate agent will provide this – you just need to tell them who your conveyancer is.
The next step is for us to prepare a contract pack for the buyer’s solicitor. The pack will include the title to the property, a draft contract, the property forms you have completed and any other relevant documentation. Again – nothing you need to do at this stage, we’ll take care of all of this for you.
We pride ourselves on being proactive, so we’ll make sure to do everything we can as early as possible to prepare your sale for the exchange. This includes obtaining an initial redemption figure from your lender (if you have one) and carrying out our own title check to anticipate anything we think the buyer’s solicitor might need. At this point, we can advise you if we need any additional documentation. In some cases, we might need a management pack, a licence to assign, title confirmation, or additional documentation for the buyer’s solicitor. We’ll keep you right and advise you as early as possible to give you all the time you need to get the documents in place.
The buyer’s solicitor will usually raise any legal enquiries within 7-14 days from receiving the contract pack. At this point we’ll contact you if there’s anything else we need. Once all the legal matters have been dealt with, we can set the dates.
Once the contract is approved by the buyer’s solicitor, we will send it to you for signature. Your conveyancer will advise you on the terms of the contract so you’ll have time to ask any questions. If you’re happy with the terms you just need to sign the document and return this to us. This can be done by post or using a land registry compliant electronic signature. Just let us know if you’d like to sign the contract electronically, we can organise this for you. You are not tied in to the contract at this stage, your conveyancer will speak to you before the final exchanging of the contract with your buyer.
Once a date has been agreed with your buyer (and any other parties if there is a chain) and all legal matters have been settled we’ll exchange contracts. This will mean both you and the buyer will be legally obliged to complete the transaction on the agreed completion date and all other contractual terms will come into force. It sounds a bit daunting, but all the work we’ve done up to this point is in preparation for this, so by the time we get here, you’ll be comfortable with the terms of the sale. Typically, we aim to exchange contracts within 6 to 8 weeks of the contract pack being prepared but we’ll keep you up to date with timings along the way.
To avoid any unnecessary last-minute stress, we’ll obtain a final redemption from your lender (if you need one) and ask you to sign a transfer deed if you haven’t already. We’ll also share a draft completion statement so you can see what funds to expect or if there are any outstanding funds to be sent to us. You can then concentrate on the fun part – booking any removals and packing up your home!
If we can we’ll try to chat to you about the process for completion in advance of the day so it can be as hassle free as possible. Once we have the money from the buyer’s solicitor we will let you know and advise the agent to release the keys. We’ll settle any agent invoices, legal fees, and other outstanding payments on your completion statement and send you the balance of sale proceeds.
The final step – a few days after completion we will arrange to send you your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience throughout the process. Hopefully we did everything right, but this is a good chance for you to let us know how you found the process, and anything you think we could improve.
What to expect when you are buying your home
You’ve scoured the listings, attended the viewings and you’ve finally found the perfect place to call your next home. So what now? The next step to go ahead with the purchase is to appoint a solicitor to help with the sale. Your solicitor will keep you right throughout the process and will represent your interests throughout, so you want to make sure you’re happy with your choice. Take time to consider what services are being offered, what the costs are and what budget you have available. You don’t necessarily want to automatically choose the cheapest conveyancing service, instead make sure the service is the right one for you. See our handy blog on ‘how to choose the right solicitor for you’ (which I will write next week and will probably have a different title referring to fees)
If you want to work with our team here at Prosperity Law, we’ll send you a pack of client care documents. This will provide us will all the information we need to help support you with your purchase. Once you’ve signed client care paperwork, identity documents and questionnaire, we can begin acting for you. Sometimes there is a small sum of money needed upfront to cover any initial payments such as searches and electronic ID checks. We do this to make sure all your costs are addressed at the start, and you won’t have to keep making payments to us or experience any unwanted delays. We’ll always keep you informed of any costs to you throughout the process.
The next step is to share our details with the seller’s estate agent so they can send us a memorandum of sale. This document is a written confirmation of all the details of the sale, which we need to start the process. When we have this from the estate agent, we’ll contact the seller’s solicitor directly for the contract pack.
To avoid any unforeseeable issues, we like to be proactive for our clients. When we receive the contract pack from the estate agent, we’ll do some initial title checks so we can advise you early on of any additional steps we may need to take in the process. If we do need any additional information, this could impact on the timescales, so at this point we’ll be able to give you a better estimate of when we expect the purchase to be complete.
Conveyancing searches are simply some enquiries we’ll make on your behalf to any third parties who might hold information about the property you’re looking to buy. It can take a few weeks for the search results to be returned to us but we’ll review the information we find and advise you of any appropriate next steps.
Our next step is to carry out a full detailed title check of the deeds, contract, and the property forms we’ve received from the seller. If you have any questions or we spot anything we want to ask about, we then have the opportunity to raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor. This can include asking for additional documents or questions about the property. We’ll usually raise these within 7-14 days of receiving the contract pack depending on the complexity of the contract.
At this stage we want to make sure your mortgage offer is in place. This should be provided by your lender for you to share with us, your conveyancer will let you know if they haven’t received their copy.
Once the seller’s solicitor has replied to all of our enquiries, we will do a full review to check we’re happy and have all the information we need, we’ll then prepare a full property report for you. This will explain the title, summarise the search results, and anything else that affects the property. You’ll need to take the time to read and review the report to check you are happy with everything before proceeding, but we’ll be there to advise you. If you have any questions just get in touch with your conveyancer and they’ll be happy to help.
Once we’ve approved the contract, we’ll send it to you for signature. We’ll advise you on the terms of the contract but if you’re happy with the final details, you’ll sign the document and return this to us. Again, this can be done in a few ways to make the process as easy for you as possible. Send the signed contract to us by post or using a land registry compliant electronic signature – just let us know if you want to sign the contract electronically. You are not tied in to the contract at this stage, your conveyancer will speak to you and let you know before exchanging the contract with the seller.
Once the date has been agreed with all parties and the legal matters have been concluded we’ll exchange contracts with the seller. At this point you and the seller are both tied in to the contract so you’ll need to complete the transaction on the agreed date and all other contractual terms will come into force. Typically, this will happen within 6 to 8 weeks of the contract pack being received but your conveyancer will be able to advise.
To keep things running smoothly, we’ll prepare as much as we can before the completion day. You’ll need to sign a transfer deed, SDLT Form, and if applicable a mortgage deed. You’ll also be given your draft completion statement with a note of any outstanding payments due to us. This will hopefully leave you all the time you need to prepare for your move.
Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for! As soon as we have the full purchase monies required (your deposit, and the money from your lender), we will send this to the seller’s solicitor. The seller’s solicitor will contact the estate agent to release the keys to you once they have received the funds and when we have confirmation it’s time for you to collect the keys.
A few days after completion we will arrange to send you all of your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience throughout your transaction. There are a few additional administrative tasks needing completed at this stage so we’ll help you with these as well. We’ll get the property registered in your name at Land Registry, submit your SDLT return, and pay any tax due. We may also need to contact other third parties to confirm you are the new owners, such as a managing agent, your conveyancer will let you know we’re doing this if this is the case. Once the property is registered, we’ll forward you a copy of the up to date property register and any other property documents that the seller has provided us with.
What to expect when you are remortgaging your home
When you’ve decided you’re looking to remortgage, the first step is to instruct a solicitor to act for both you and your new lender. This is an important decision as your solicitor will represent your interests throughout the process, so we recommend not defaulting to the cheapest provider. Instead, make sure you find out more about the services and the costs and base your decision on your requirements and available budget.
We’ll share client care documents with you at the beginning, this will help us get a better idea of your personal circumstances and requirements. Once you have returned all of the relevant documents, we can begin acting for you. Sometimes there are small, upfront costs for electronic ID checks and searches. We’ll make sure to inform you of any of these costs from the get-go. The reason we charge these at the beginning, is so you don’t have to keep making payments to us throughout the process and we can hopefully avoid any unnecessary delays.
We’ll proactively carry out an initial title check on your property, making sure to flag any issues early, and giving you as much time as possible to provide us with any additional documentation we might need. For some properties or lenders, we may need to ask for a redemption figure from your existing lender, so we’ll pick this up at this stage if required.
If you haven’t done so already, you’ll now need to let your mortgage broker or lender know that you have instructed us to act on your behalf. This allows them to send us your mortgage offer once it has been issued to you. As we also act on behalf of the lender we may have to report to them on various points and adhere to any mortgage conditions – again, your conveyancer will be able to advise you if this is required. If there are no outstanding legal points to deal with, your remortgage should be complete within a few weeks of us receiving your mortgage offer – it’s as simple as that.
When we have all the relevant details, we’ll provide you with more information on the terms of the mortgage and if you are happy with the terms outlined, you’ll need to sign your mortgage deed and return this to us.
Once we have dealt with all mortgage conditions and received your signed mortgage deed, we will request the funds be transferred to us from your new lender. Once this has been received, we’ll pay off the remainder of the existing mortgage and send you the balance (if applicable).
The last step comes post completion, a few days after everything has been finalised we will arrange to send you your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience. We’ll also deal with registering the new lender’s charge over your property at Land Registry and removing any existing charges from the previous agreement. We might need to contact other third parties to confirm you have a different lender, such as a managing agent – not to worry, we’ll let you know if this is the case. Once the new charge is registered we will forward you a copy of the up to date property register and your remortgage is complete.
Once the seller’s solicitor has replied to all of our enquiries, we will do a full review to check we’re happy and have all the information we need, we’ll then prepare a full property report for you. This will explain the title, summarise the search results, and anything else that affects the property. You’ll need to take the time to read and review the report to check you are happy with everything before proceeding, but we’ll be there to advise you. If you have any questions just get in touch with your conveyancer and they’ll be happy to help.
Once we’ve approved the contract, we’ll send it to you for signature. We’ll advise you on the terms of the contract but if you’re happy with the final details, you’ll sign the document and return this to us. Again, this can be done in a few ways to make the process as easy for you as possible. Send the signed contract to us by post or using a land registry compliant electronic signature – just let us know if you want to sign the contract electronically. You are not tied in to the contract at this stage, your conveyancer will speak to you and let you know before exchanging the contract with the seller.
Once the date has been agreed with all parties and the legal matters have been concluded we’ll exchange contracts with the seller. At this point you and the seller are both tied in to the contract so you’ll need to complete the transaction on the agreed date and all other contractual terms will come into force. Typically, this will happen within 6 to 8 weeks of the contract pack being received but your conveyancer will be able to advise.
To keep things running smoothly, we’ll prepare as much as we can before the completion day. You’ll need to sign a transfer deed, SDLT Form, and if applicable a mortgage deed. You’ll also be given your draft completion statement with a note of any outstanding payments due to us. This will hopefully leave you all the time you need to prepare for your move.
Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for! As soon as we have the full purchase monies required (your deposit, and the money from your lender), we will send this to the seller’s solicitor. The seller’s solicitor will contact the estate agent to release the keys to you once they have received the funds and when we have confirmation it’s time for you to collect the keys.
A few days after completion we will arrange to send you all of your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience throughout your transaction. There are a few additional administrative tasks needing completed at this stage so we’ll help you with these as well. We’ll get the property registered in your name at Land Registry, submit your SDLT return, and pay any tax due. We may also need to contact other third parties to confirm you are the new owners, such as a managing agent, your conveyancer will let you know we’re doing this if this is the case. Once the property is registered, we’ll forward you a copy of the up to date property register and any other property documents that the seller has provided us with.
A transfer of equity is where you change the legal ownership of your property, there are a few reasons you might want to do this which we’ve listed below. If you’re thinking about transferring equity, our property experts at Prosperity Law can advise and guide you through this process.
Some of the reasons you may want to organise a transfer of equity include:
- All of the equity in your property is being gifted;
- You’d like to transfer some of the equity in your property to a family member or you’re receiving some equity from a property from a family member;
- Your matrimonial, cohabiting or relationship arrangements have changed;
- Tax efficiency.
Every transfer of equity is different in circumstances and complexity largely depending on the personal circumstances of each transfer. We recommend taking legal advice from one of our property experts before taking any steps to transfer equity. We’ll chat to you about your circumstances, and give you some advice on whether or not the process is the right option for you, and anything you need to consider. Depending on the circumstances you may need consent from third parties (such as a lender or landlord) for an equity transfer. You’ll need to have agreement from all the existing legal owners, and there may be stamp duty land tax to consider, so our advisors will help keep you right. To have a chat about your requirements and costs for legal support, get in touch with our team today.
Warren Kaye
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What to expect when you’re selling your home
The first step is to instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf when you’re selling your home. This is one of the most important decisions you will make as this person will represent your interests throughout the sale. We recommend having a think about what services are being offered, what the cost looks like and what your budget allows. We would never recommend automatically choosing the cheapest conveyancing service, you want to make sure the service is the best fit for you.
All of our prospective new clients receive what we like to call ‘client care documents’. Essentially, these documents tell us what we need to know to help support you through the sale process. Once you have returned your signed client care paperwork, identity documents and questionnaire, we can begin acting for you. Initially there might be some small charges to cover payments such as land registry documents and electronic ID checks. We do this at the start to make sure your costs are covered from the get-go, meaning you don’t have to keep making payments to us, and we don’t have any unnecessary hold ups. Don’t worry, your conveyancer will keep you right, and will inform you of any and all charges up front so there are no nasty surprises!
Another key document included in the client care welcome pack is the property form. We’ll ask you to complete this form so we capture all the information you have about your property which the buyer might need. There are a few ways you can complete and return the form to us – it’s completely up to you. We try to make the process as simple for you as possible so it can be completed online, sent to us by post, in person, or by email. The form is a legal document so if you have any questions or queries, or you’re unsure on any of the content, please feel free to contact your conveyancer, we’ll be more than happy to help advise how you fill this out.
At this point, if you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to provide your estate agent with our details so they can send us a memorandum of sale. The memorandum of sale is a written confirmation of all the details of the property transaction, the estate agent will provide this – you just need to tell them who your conveyancer is.
The next step is for us to prepare a contract pack for the buyer’s solicitor. The pack will include the title to the property, a draft contract, the property forms you have completed and any other relevant documentation. Again – nothing you need to do at this stage, we’ll take care of all of this for you.
We pride ourselves on being proactive, so we’ll make sure to do everything we can as early as possible to prepare your sale for the exchange. This includes obtaining an initial redemption figure from your lender (if you have one) and carrying out our own title check to anticipate anything we think the buyer’s solicitor might need. At this point, we can advise you if we need any additional documentation. In some cases, we might need a management pack, a licence to assign, title confirmation, or additional documentation for the buyer’s solicitor. We’ll keep you right and advise you as early as possible to give you all the time you need to get the documents in place.
The buyer’s solicitor will usually raise any legal enquiries within 7-14 days from receiving the contract pack. At this point we’ll contact you if there’s anything else we need. Once all the legal matters have been dealt with, we can set the dates.
Once the contract is approved by the buyer’s solicitor, we will send it to you for signature. Your conveyancer will advise you on the terms of the contract so you’ll have time to ask any questions. If you’re happy with the terms you just need to sign the document and return this to us. This can be done by post or using a land registry compliant electronic signature. Just let us know if you’d like to sign the contract electronically, we can organise this for you. You are not tied in to the contract at this stage, your conveyancer will speak to you before the final exchanging of the contract with your buyer.
Once a date has been agreed with your buyer (and any other parties if there is a chain) and all legal matters have been settled we’ll exchange contracts. This will mean both you and the buyer will be legally obliged to complete the transaction on the agreed completion date and all other contractual terms will come into force. It sounds a bit daunting, but all the work we’ve done up to this point is in preparation for this, so by the time we get here, you’ll be comfortable with the terms of the sale. Typically, we aim to exchange contracts within 6 to 8 weeks of the contract pack being prepared but we’ll keep you up to date with timings along the way.
To avoid any unnecessary last-minute stress, we’ll obtain a final redemption from your lender (if you need one) and ask you to sign a transfer deed if you haven’t already. We’ll also share a draft completion statement so you can see what funds to expect or if there are any outstanding funds to be sent to us. You can then concentrate on the fun part – booking any removals and packing up your home!
If we can we’ll try to chat to you about the process for completion in advance of the day so it can be as hassle free as possible. Once we have the money from the buyer’s solicitor we will let you know and advise the agent to release the keys. We’ll settle any agent invoices, legal fees, and other outstanding payments on your completion statement and send you the balance of sale proceeds.
The final step – a few days after completion we will arrange to send you your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience throughout the process. Hopefully we did everything right, but this is a good chance for you to let us know how you found the process, and anything you think we could improve.
What to expect when you are buying your home
You’ve scoured the listings, attended the viewings and you’ve finally found the perfect place to call your next home. So what now? The next step to go ahead with the purchase is to appoint a solicitor to help with the sale. Your solicitor will keep you right throughout the process and will represent your interests throughout, so you want to make sure you’re happy with your choice. Take time to consider what services are being offered, what the costs are and what budget you have available. You don’t necessarily want to automatically choose the cheapest conveyancing service, instead make sure the service is the right one for you. See our handy blog on ‘how to choose the right solicitor for you’ (which I will write next week and will probably have a different title referring to fees)
If you want to work with our team here at Prosperity Law, we’ll send you a pack of client care documents. This will provide us will all the information we need to help support you with your purchase. Once you’ve signed client care paperwork, identity documents and questionnaire, we can begin acting for you. Sometimes there is a small sum of money needed upfront to cover any initial payments such as searches and electronic ID checks. We do this to make sure all your costs are addressed at the start, and you won’t have to keep making payments to us or experience any unwanted delays. We’ll always keep you informed of any costs to you throughout the process.
The next step is to share our details with the seller’s estate agent so they can send us a memorandum of sale. This document is a written confirmation of all the details of the sale, which we need to start the process. When we have this from the estate agent, we’ll contact the seller’s solicitor directly for the contract pack.
To avoid any unforeseeable issues, we like to be proactive for our clients. When we receive the contract pack from the estate agent, we’ll do some initial title checks so we can advise you early on of any additional steps we may need to take in the process. If we do need any additional information, this could impact on the timescales, so at this point we’ll be able to give you a better estimate of when we expect the purchase to be complete.
Conveyancing searches are simply some enquiries we’ll make on your behalf to any third parties who might hold information about the property you’re looking to buy. It can take a few weeks for the search results to be returned to us but we’ll review the information we find and advise you of any appropriate next steps.
Our next step is to carry out a full detailed title check of the deeds, contract, and the property forms we’ve received from the seller. If you have any questions or we spot anything we want to ask about, we then have the opportunity to raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor. This can include asking for additional documents or questions about the property. We’ll usually raise these within 7-14 days of receiving the contract pack depending on the complexity of the contract.
At this stage we want to make sure your mortgage offer is in place. This should be provided by your lender for you to share with us, your conveyancer will let you know if they haven’t received their copy.
Once the seller’s solicitor has replied to all of our enquiries, we will do a full review to check we’re happy and have all the information we need, we’ll then prepare a full property report for you. This will explain the title, summarise the search results, and anything else that affects the property. You’ll need to take the time to read and review the report to check you are happy with everything before proceeding, but we’ll be there to advise you. If you have any questions just get in touch with your conveyancer and they’ll be happy to help.
Once we’ve approved the contract, we’ll send it to you for signature. We’ll advise you on the terms of the contract but if you’re happy with the final details, you’ll sign the document and return this to us. Again, this can be done in a few ways to make the process as easy for you as possible. Send the signed contract to us by post or using a land registry compliant electronic signature – just let us know if you want to sign the contract electronically. You are not tied in to the contract at this stage, your conveyancer will speak to you and let you know before exchanging the contract with the seller.
Once the date has been agreed with all parties and the legal matters have been concluded we’ll exchange contracts with the seller. At this point you and the seller are both tied in to the contract so you’ll need to complete the transaction on the agreed date and all other contractual terms will come into force. Typically, this will happen within 6 to 8 weeks of the contract pack being received but your conveyancer will be able to advise.
To keep things running smoothly, we’ll prepare as much as we can before the completion day. You’ll need to sign a transfer deed, SDLT Form, and if applicable a mortgage deed. You’ll also be given your draft completion statement with a note of any outstanding payments due to us. This will hopefully leave you all the time you need to prepare for your move.
Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for! As soon as we have the full purchase monies required (your deposit, and the money from your lender), we will send this to the seller’s solicitor. The seller’s solicitor will contact the estate agent to release the keys to you once they have received the funds and when we have confirmation it’s time for you to collect the keys.
A few days after completion we will arrange to send you all of your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience throughout your transaction. There are a few additional administrative tasks needing completed at this stage so we’ll help you with these as well. We’ll get the property registered in your name at Land Registry, submit your SDLT return, and pay any tax due. We may also need to contact other third parties to confirm you are the new owners, such as a managing agent, your conveyancer will let you know we’re doing this if this is the case. Once the property is registered, we’ll forward you a copy of the up to date property register and any other property documents that the seller has provided us with.
What to expect when you are remortgaging your home
When you’ve decided you’re looking to remortgage, the first step is to instruct a solicitor to act for both you and your new lender. This is an important decision as your solicitor will represent your interests throughout the process, so we recommend not defaulting to the cheapest provider. Instead, make sure you find out more about the services and the costs and base your decision on your requirements and available budget.
We’ll share client care documents with you at the beginning, this will help us get a better idea of your personal circumstances and requirements. Once you have returned all of the relevant documents, we can begin acting for you. Sometimes there are small, upfront costs for electronic ID checks and searches. We’ll make sure to inform you of any of these costs from the get-go. The reason we charge these at the beginning, is so you don’t have to keep making payments to us throughout the process and we can hopefully avoid any unnecessary delays.
We’ll proactively carry out an initial title check on your property, making sure to flag any issues early, and giving you as much time as possible to provide us with any additional documentation we might need. For some properties or lenders, we may need to ask for a redemption figure from your existing lender, so we’ll pick this up at this stage if required.
If you haven’t done so already, you’ll now need to let your mortgage broker or lender know that you have instructed us to act on your behalf. This allows them to send us your mortgage offer once it has been issued to you. As we also act on behalf of the lender we may have to report to them on various points and adhere to any mortgage conditions – again, your conveyancer will be able to advise you if this is required. If there are no outstanding legal points to deal with, your remortgage should be complete within a few weeks of us receiving your mortgage offer – it’s as simple as that.
When we have all the relevant details, we’ll provide you with more information on the terms of the mortgage and if you are happy with the terms outlined, you’ll need to sign your mortgage deed and return this to us.
Once we have dealt with all mortgage conditions and received your signed mortgage deed, we will request the funds be transferred to us from your new lender. Once this has been received, we’ll pay off the remainder of the existing mortgage and send you the balance (if applicable).
The last step comes post completion, a few days after everything has been finalised we will arrange to send you your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience. We’ll also deal with registering the new lender’s charge over your property at Land Registry and removing any existing charges from the previous agreement. We might need to contact other third parties to confirm you have a different lender, such as a managing agent – not to worry, we’ll let you know if this is the case. Once the new charge is registered we will forward you a copy of the up to date property register and your remortgage is complete.
Once the seller’s solicitor has replied to all of our enquiries, we will do a full review to check we’re happy and have all the information we need, we’ll then prepare a full property report for you. This will explain the title, summarise the search results, and anything else that affects the property. You’ll need to take the time to read and review the report to check you are happy with everything before proceeding, but we’ll be there to advise you. If you have any questions just get in touch with your conveyancer and they’ll be happy to help.
Once we’ve approved the contract, we’ll send it to you for signature. We’ll advise you on the terms of the contract but if you’re happy with the final details, you’ll sign the document and return this to us. Again, this can be done in a few ways to make the process as easy for you as possible. Send the signed contract to us by post or using a land registry compliant electronic signature – just let us know if you want to sign the contract electronically. You are not tied in to the contract at this stage, your conveyancer will speak to you and let you know before exchanging the contract with the seller.
Once the date has been agreed with all parties and the legal matters have been concluded we’ll exchange contracts with the seller. At this point you and the seller are both tied in to the contract so you’ll need to complete the transaction on the agreed date and all other contractual terms will come into force. Typically, this will happen within 6 to 8 weeks of the contract pack being received but your conveyancer will be able to advise.
To keep things running smoothly, we’ll prepare as much as we can before the completion day. You’ll need to sign a transfer deed, SDLT Form, and if applicable a mortgage deed. You’ll also be given your draft completion statement with a note of any outstanding payments due to us. This will hopefully leave you all the time you need to prepare for your move.
Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for! As soon as we have the full purchase monies required (your deposit, and the money from your lender), we will send this to the seller’s solicitor. The seller’s solicitor will contact the estate agent to release the keys to you once they have received the funds and when we have confirmation it’s time for you to collect the keys.
A few days after completion we will arrange to send you all of your completion letters and ask for any feedback on your experience throughout your transaction. There are a few additional administrative tasks needing completed at this stage so we’ll help you with these as well. We’ll get the property registered in your name at Land Registry, submit your SDLT return, and pay any tax due. We may also need to contact other third parties to confirm you are the new owners, such as a managing agent, your conveyancer will let you know we’re doing this if this is the case. Once the property is registered, we’ll forward you a copy of the up to date property register and any other property documents that the seller has provided us with.
A transfer of equity is where you change the legal ownership of your property, there are a few reasons you might want to do this which we’ve listed below. If you’re thinking about transferring equity, our property experts at Prosperity Law can advise and guide you through this process.
Some of the reasons you may want to organise a transfer of equity include:
- All of the equity in your property is being gifted;
- You’d like to transfer some of the equity in your property to a family member or you’re receiving some equity from a property from a family member;
- Your matrimonial, cohabiting or relationship arrangements have changed;
- Tax efficiency.
Every transfer of equity is different in circumstances and complexity largely depending on the personal circumstances of each transfer. We recommend taking legal advice from one of our property experts before taking any steps to transfer equity. We’ll chat to you about your circumstances, and give you some advice on whether or not the process is the right option for you, and anything you need to consider. Depending on the circumstances you may need consent from third parties (such as a lender or landlord) for an equity transfer. You’ll need to have agreement from all the existing legal owners, and there may be stamp duty land tax to consider, so our advisors will help keep you right. To have a chat about your requirements and costs for legal support, get in touch with our team today.
