I’m selling my home, what is the conveyancing process?

What is conveyancing? Conveyancing is the legal term for the transfer of property from one person to another. Although each individual property transaction differs from the next, the stages are broadly the same.

Most people choose to market their home through an estate agent but those looking to save on costs may decide to market their home privately.

This is the perfect stage to instruct your conveyancer – it’s a really simple process to do so.  They will take your details and provide you with some initial documentation which you will need to complete. It will really help reduce the time the conveyancing process takes if you return these quickly.  Your conveyancer will then review this information during the time that you are marketing your property.  This means that your conveyancer can issue the necessary paperwork to your buyer’s conveyancer the moment you accept an offer, rather than waiting to start the process until then. This could take weeks off the time it takes to complete your sale.  At Kirkstall Property Lawyers, we offer this service on a No Sale No Legal Fee basis meaning that you appoint us when you place your property on the market safe in the knowledge that you will pay no legal fees if you do not sell your property. 

Once you’ve accepted an offer, your estate agent will let your conveyancer have the details of your buyer’s conveyancer, the price agreed and any other terms which have been agreed, for example you may agree that you are leaving certain items for the buyer, like a washing machine or dishwasher. 

This is where the legal work really begins…

Once a sale is agreed, your conveyancer will prepare a contract and send this to the buyer’s conveyancer, together with copies of the title of your property from the Land Registry (which prove you own the property) and also the Fixtures, Fittings and Contents form and the Property Information form which your conveyancer will have asked you to complete.  There will also be an additional form for you to complete if the property is leasehold. 

Your conveyancer will also ask you to sign the contract and another document, known as a “transfer”, which allows the property to be registered in the buyer’s name after completion has taken place.

Your buyer, or their mortgage lender, will arrange a survey or valuation of your property.  If your buyer does need a mortgage to help fund the purchase, the mortgage offer will also need to be received before they can proceed to exchange.

If you have a mortgage on the property, we will ask your bank or building society to confirm how much you owe as this will need to be repaid on completion of your sale.

Your buyer’s conveyancer will check all the title information and will usually have some enquiries to raise with us.  We may need to ask you to assist us in providing the replies.  Your buyer’s conveyancer will also need to make enquiries of the local authority, water authority and occasionally other authorities.  These enquiries are known as “searches” and your buyer’s conveyancer will need the results before they can proceed. 

When your buyer’s conveyancer has all of the information they need and are satisfied with the responses, and assuming your buyer still wishes to proceed, contracts can then be exchanged.   Your conveyancer will not exchange contracts without having asked you for your authority to do so. 

When this happens, you are legally bound to sell the property and the buyer is legally bound to buy, at the price stated in the contract. 

At this stage, the completion date is fixed and can not be changed so it is important that you make sure you can remove all your belongings from the property by the completion date before agreeing to any date.  If you need to book removals or arrange time off work, this is the time to do it. 

Your conveyancer will then request a final redemption statement from your mortgage lender at this point and, once this is received, they will provide you with a completion statement, so you know how much money you will receive after completion has taken place.

The completion date is the date the buyer pays for the property.  Your buyer’s conveyancer will transfer the required money to your conveyancer's bank account and, once they have received it, the buyer can pick up the keys and move in.

You will be required remove all your belongings (and yourself!) from the property by the time stated in the contract, usually this is around 1pm.

Your conveyancer will take care of the finances on the completion day and will arrange to pay off any mortgage.  They will also pay your estate agent if you want them to and settle their own bill too.  Finally, they’ll then send you the remaining balance.  At Kirkstall Property Lawyers, our conveyancers send this to you by telegraphic transfer on the day of completion so you have the money in your account on the day you move home. 

We hope you’ve found this helpful, if you need any more information please take a look at the other guides on our website or alternatively please call us, we’d be happy to help you.