For UK homeowners buying and selling property can often be a confusing process. In many cases it can be a long drawn out arrangement that becomes a stressful time for all parties. To simplify things the process of buying and selling property can be split into three stages.
Initial Agreement to Buy or Sell the Property
The conveyancing process starts after an agreement has been reached between the buyer and seller of the property. Once the agreement has been reached the respective solicitors of both parties are informed that the transaction should begin. The buyer's solicitors and seller's solicitors have different tasks to perform in the transaction.
The seller's solicitors will obtain the title deeds and documents either from the seller or where appropriate from the seller's mortgage company. At the same time the buyer's solicitors will carry out whatever searches are judged to be necessary for the property e.g. water and environmental searches.
If the buyer plans to obtain a mortgage they will first need to make an application to a mortgage company and receive a written offer before the exchange of contracts can take place.
Exchange of Contracts
Once all the initial steps have been completed a date is agreed for the exchange of contracts. In cases where a person is completing both a purchase and sale of property the solicitor should ensure that the exchange of contracts on both transactions takes place simultaneously. When the contracts are exchanged a deposit must usually be paid. The completion date of the purchase is normally 2-4 weeks after the exchange of contracts. The exact date is agreed between both parties via their solicitors.
In the time between exchanging contracts and the completion date the buyer's solicitors will prepare the transfer of property which must be approved by the solicitors of the seller before being signed by both parties.
Completion of the Sale
To complete the sale the buyer's solicitors send the remaining balance of the purchase to the solicitors of the seller. When this money has been transferred the key to the property can be released to the buyer. Finally the buyer's solicitors will send any stamp duty due to the Inland Revenue. Once processed the solicitor can complete the purchase by registering the sale at the Land Registry.
As can be seen buying and selling property in the UK can be a long process. However there have been recent moves to simplify and speed up the process. The newly introduced Home Information Pack it is hoped will improve things by making information about the property available to the buyer earlier in the process reducing the chances of the sale breaking down at a late stage.
Source: The Role of Solicitors in Property Sales
Other useful sources for buying and selling property
Buying property solicitors UK
Online conveyancing process UK
Indian property transfer information
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