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CONVEYANCING GUIDE
TO BUYING Moving home can be a very stressful business. This is usually so given that it is probably the biggest investment that most of us will ever make. The law imposes duties and obligations on parties in conveyancing transactions, for instance, it is up to the buyer to make sure that they are actually getting what they think they are buying. Similarly the seller must not hide anything, but is under no obligation to point out any fault or problem. There are a lot of pitfalls and it should always be remembered that it is almost impossible to undo a binding contract once it is made. It is therefore vital to find out as much about the property before making a final decision. At Andrews Solicitors we take care of all your home buying, selling or re-mortgaging needs and we make our service simple for you. We aim to ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible and that delays are kept to a minimum. With this in mind, each matter is handled by a named solicitor, from start to finish, ensuring that we deliver a truly personal service. The solicitor will get assistance from support staff within our experienced conveyancing team, thereby ensuring continuity. Our conveyancing team will take you through the process with the minimum of stress. When buying a house you would need to arrange a survey, arrange building insurance, arrange life cover, raise any planning concerns with the council, lodge your deposit with us, ensure that all necessary papers are signed and returned to the mortgage lender, ensure that all documentation is signed and returned to us, the solicitors, and investigate removal companies. We will then contact the seller’s solicitors to obtain and check the title deeds of the property, the proposed contract with the seller, make local authority and any other necessary searches and check the results, receive mortgage instructions from your lender, prepare all documentation for your signature and report to you. Your mortgage lender will carry out a valuation survey of the property, check that you are eligible for the mortgage, send your solicitor the mortgage offer and instruct them to check title deeds of the property, the proposed contract with your seller, local authority and any other necessary searches and to see that all mortgage conditions in the offer can be satisfied. You then move onto the next stage in the process which is the exchange of contracts. This is when you are legally bound in a contract with the seller. Contracts are exchanged and a deposit is handed over by us to the seller and you would then be required to put buildings insurance and life cover on risk whilst the mortgage funds will be paid to us. We would then prepare a completion statement which in effect is a financial summary, conduct final searches, request mortgage funds from your lenders. It is at this stage (exchange) that you, the buyer, confirm removal company booking, book utilities connections, make arrangements for hand over of keys with the agents, notify change of address to Banks, Building Societies, Credit Card Companies, DVLA, Doctors, Dentists, Post Office etc. The next stage is the completion. It is at this stage that we hand over purchase monies to the sellers solicitors, receive deeds and documents from the seller’s solicitors, pay any stamp duty, register your ownership with the Land Registry and deal with storage of deeds, you then collect the keys and move in. While we are acting for you as a seller the procedure is then as follows:- We will retrieve your title deeds, prepare, issue and negotiate a contract with your buyers solicitors, reply to any queries raised by your buyer’s solicitors, send contract to you for signature, check redemption figures on your mortgage and confirm completion date. You will need to complete property information form and fixtures list and return to us, arrange to leave keys with Estate Agents to allow buyer’s surveyor access, investigate removal companies, return signed contract to us. Exchange is when the contracts are exchanged. The buyer’s deposit will be received by us. We will then request final settlement figures from your lender, organise final accounts and prepare completion statement, approve deeds of transfer and send to you for signature, pay up any outstanding mortgage, request or pass balance of funds to you, pay estate agents, re-assign life assurance policies if applicable and pass deeds to your buyer’s solicitors. At this stage of exchange what you then need to do is agree arrangements for handover of keys, book removal company, ensure signed transfer is returned to us prior to completion and then move out. We trust that you find the information contained in this web page of help and look forward to receiving your instructions. 1. The new mortgage lender will require that we undertake a local search. This is usually as is given in the explanatory note above. 2. For re-mortgages again there would be the land registry search which is the same as is explained above. 3. The re-mortgage must be registered at the land registry and the fees are between £40 to £80 depending on the amount of the mortgage. 4. We would have to redeem your old mortgage upon completion and this would mean telegraphically transferring the redemption sum to your old lender and our bank will charge approximately £30 for this. As it is our commitment to make the transaction whether it be a purchase sale or re-mortgage as simple as possible, we think it helpful at this stage to provide some guide in relation to the steps to be taken. GUIDANCE ON CONVEYANCING COSTS We, like most professionals charge for our time and do so by using an hourly rate. In addition to our fees there are various expenses which we refer to as “disbursements” which are payable. However, we feel that it is important for clients to receive an estimate as to how much their legal costs will be for a certain transaction. With this in mind we aim to complete most conveyancing transactions at costs not exceeding £550 plus VAT. This does not include disbursements. If for any reason, for instance where matters are complicated and more time than usual is to be spent, you will be advised before any further costs are incurred. These, as stated above, usually would be payments, necessary in order to undertake conveyancing transactions whether it be sale or purchase. For property purchase one should expect disbursements in the following:- ·
Local Authority Search Fee (up to £250) For Property Sales you would need:- ·
Office Copy Entries and Filed Plan (£8.00) For
Property Re-mortgage:- The above usually represents costs and disbursements. You may be advised to carry out further and additional searches on the property therefore additional disbursements maybe incurred. COMMON TERMS USED IN COVEYANCING 1. Stamp Duty – this is simply a tax charged by the government payable after completion of a transaction. It usually is a percentage of the purchase price charged by the government. 2. Local Search - It is always advisable to make a local search of the property prior to exchange of contracts. This comprises a series of questions about the property such as whether roads serving the property are maintained by the Council and whether any planning applications regarding the property are made. Please note that this search is for the property only, it will not provide any information upon any nearby property outside its boundaries. If there are concerns about a neighbouring property then you would need to inform us of this so that we may make the relevant enquiries. The precise cost of local search varies from local authority to local authority. It is advisable and in deed prudent to effect this search at the earliest stage. For this reason we ask for £200 at the outset on account of this disbursement. The replies to this search take varied amounts of time to be received from the local authority depending upon which local authority covers the area. If speed is of the essence, i.e. is very important, it is possible to undertake a personal search instead of a local search. However, this is usually more expensive. 3. Land Registry Search - Prior to exchange we will need to search the register to ensure that there are no adverse entries on it. 4. Bankruptcy Search - Where the transaction is to be funded or partly funded through a mortgage, which is often the case, then it is usual for us to receive instructions from the mortgage lender to act on their behalf also. There are therefore additional obligations upon us, one of which is to undertake a bankruptcy search against a prospective purchaser or purchasers and the charge for each search is £2.00. 5. Land Registry Dealing Application - When a transaction has been completed, it is necessary to register the new purchaser’s interest with the Land Registry. There is a land registry fee which depends upon the purchase price of the property. 6. Bank Transfer - When it is time to complete a transaction it usually is necessary to arrange for funds to be telegraphically transferred from the mortgage lender to our account, The mortgage lender may charge for this and this charge will usually be deducted from the amount of the loan they are making. We would then need to telegraphically transfer the completion monies to the seller’s solicitors and our bank will charge a fee for effecting this transfer. 1. Office Copy Entries and File Plan - We need to obtain an up to date copy of the title from the land registry in respect of sales. There is a charge at the moment of £8.00. Andrews Solicitors offer effective service in relation to business premises, shops, offices, developments, investments and industrial properties, pubs, clubs and hotels. We offer advice and assistance with letting and taking leases on any of the above-mentioned properties. We also help in acquisition of commercial freeholds and leaseholds for investment, developing or letting. If you are a small business and wish to rent or purchase commercial freehold or leasehold properties for your own use, we at Andrews will assist you.
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