Residential Sales and Purchases

Residential Sales

All properties in England and Wales now have to have a Home Information Pack (HIP), which will contain the Title Deeds to the property and in cases of a leasehold property the Lease. They will also contain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), together with the Local and Water Searches. We will also request all Title Deeds and documents from our client. If there is a mortgage against the property sometimes the mortgage company will hold the Title Deeds or the Solicitors who acted for you on your purchase. Once we have all the necessary Deeds we will be able to draw up the Contract. We will also send you a number of questionnaires relating to the property, which will outline what items are being left in the property. The questionnaires will also cover important issues such as building works undertaken at the property and services attached to the property. This gives the purchaser comprehensive details as to the property they are purchasing. Once we have all this information we will send the contractual documentation, together with the questionnaires and Home Information Pack to the purchaser’s Solicitors. Once the purchaser’s Solicitors are satisfied with all the documentation they have been provided with we will then progress to exchange of Contracts and agree a completion date. We will then put together a Completion Statement setting out the legal fees and disbursements, and will then provide you with any funds due to you upon completion of the transaction.

Residential Purchases

When purchasing a property we will contact the seller’s Solicitors in order to obtain from them the contractual documentation. This will include the Contracts, Title Deeds and documents relating to the property, questionnaires the seller has completed, together with the Home Information Pack. If we are not satisfied with the information provided we will raise further enquires with the seller’s Solicitors. The Home Information Pack will supply us with both Local and Water Searches, together with an Energy Performance Certificate and title documentation relating to the property. Sometimes the searches in the Home Information Pack are either out of date or personal searches, which may not satisfy your lender. We are able to put in hand further searches for you, which usually take 7-10 working days to be completed. These fresh searches can reveal planning permissions and road schemes, which may not have been available on the previously supplied documentation with the Home Information Pack. We will advise you accordingly as to whether we require this further information. Once we have your mortgage offer we will be in a position to progress your case towards exchange of Contracts. At this point we will make an appointment for you to sign all the necessary documentation and request a deposit from you. Once exchange of Contracts has taken place we will request the mortgage funds in time for completion. Unfortunately, we are not able to advise you as to the exact time completion can take place, especially when we are reliant on funds being received from your mortgage company or on the case of a sale and purchase taking place on the same day receiving funds from the seller’s Solicitors on your sale. We take care when there is a simultaneous sale and purchase taking place and we will coordinate both the sale and purchase to exchange and complete on the same day.

Buying and Selling At Auction

We are happy to act on any sale or purchase at auction and advise you as to the advantages, disadvantages and pitfalls. Please contact us if you wish to discuss this matter further. It is advisable before going to the auction to obtain a copy of the Contract from the selling agents and provide us with a copy for us to advise you. Remember once you have paid the deposit at the auction you are bound to buy the property, subject to whatever conditions the seller may have imposed