Seller's Guide

Provided below is a short practical guide to selling your property and the various areas you need to take into consideration:

Before you find a buyer

You can appoint us as your solicitors as soon as you think you might be selling, even before you put your house or flat on the market. It costs no more to give us instructions at an early stage, and may save you time and trouble later on. Then we can start putting together the documents and information that the buyer's solicitor will need, and be fully prepared by the time a buyer is found.

When you accept an offer

Once you have accepted an offer from a buyer, the estate agent will send us details and put us in touch with the buyer's solicitor. You and the buyer will not be legally committed to the purchase at this stage. Either of you can pull out at any time before contracts are exchanged.

When we have the title deeds (which we may have to borrow from your mortgage lenders) and the other information we need, we can draw up a contract for the sale, and send it to the buyer's solicitor with:

• a copy of the title deeds or the register of the title to the property
• a copy of the lease if you are selling a flat or a leasehold house
• property information forms - your answers to standard questions about the property
• a fixtures and fittings list showing which of the contents of the property are included in the sale and
• which fixtures you may be removing before the sale is completed

We may also send:

• copies of planning permissions for alterations
• copies of guarantees for work done to the property
• details of insurance and service charges if the property is leasehold.

Sometimes not everything is available at once, because we may have to get documents from other people, particularly if your property is leasehold. The buyer's solicitor will check all these documents, and may ask more questions if any information is missing, or if there is any reason to suspect a problem about the property.

The buyer's solicitor will also be carrying out local authority and other searches, and making sure that all the conditions of the buyer's mortgage offer can be complied with.

When the buyer's solicitor is satisfied about everything, the wording of the contract can be finally agreed, with any changes that the buyer wants and that you are prepared to agree to. We usually ask you to come and see us at this point, to sign the contract and show us proof of your identity.

Exchanging contracts

When you and the buyer have signed the contracts and are ready to go ahead, we speak to the buyer's solicitor to fix the completion date (when you will have to move out) and to agree to exchange contracts. Once contracts are exchanged, neither you nor the buyer can change your mind and withdraw.

When we exchange contracts the buyer's solicitor sends us the buyer's deposit, as security in case the buyer fails to pay the rest of the price and complete the purchase. If that happens, you may be able to keep the deposit and also sue the buyer for compensation for breach of contract (though a buyer who has failed to complete may be in financial trouble and not worth suing). In the same way, if you exchange contracts and then refuse to complete the sale, the buyer could apply to the court for an order to force you to complete, or could cancel the contract and ask for the deposit back, as well as suing you for compensation. But it is very rare for a sale not to be completed once contracts have been exchanged.

After exchanging contracts

Once contracts are exchanged, you can get ready to move out by the completion date. We have more work to do in the meantime, including checking how much money will be needed to pay off your mortgage on the completion date, answering some final questions from the buyer's solicitor, checking the deed of transfer which the buyer's solicitor will prepare for you to sign, and working out all the figures.

Traditionally a period of four weeks was allowed for all this, but some parts of the conveyancing process have got quicker, and an interval of two weeks is now more usual. But the sale will go more smoothly if enough time is allowed for everything to be done without rushing, so we usually charge an extra fee if we have to complete your purchase in less than two weeks from exchange of contracts.

The Big Day

On the completion date the buyer's solicitor sends the purchase price (apart from the deposit, which was sent when contracts were exchanged). When it reaches us the buyer will be entitled to pick up the keys from you or the estate agents and take possession.

The money is sent to us electronically from the other solicitor's bank, but it can still take hours to arrive if the bank clearing systems are busy, and your buyer's solicitor may have to wait for money from the buyer's own sale before making the payment to us. However, you can usually expect completion to take place by early afternoon.

What we do after completion

On the completion date, we send the title deeds to the buyer's solicitor. If you had a mortgage we pay it off, and we may also pay the estate agents their commission. After our charges have also been paid, the rest of the money is yours, and we can pay it straight to your bank or send you a cheque.