Buying a House
 

Before exchange of contracts

We take your full instructions.
You receive from us an introductory letter and enquiry forms to complete. We request ID from you and the cost of any searches we need to carry out.
You make your mortgage application, and organise a survey if you wish.
We obtain the contract documents from your seller’s solicitors. This is the most important part of a solicitor's job. We need to ensure that the sellers have a legal right to sell the property to you and that what you thought you were buying matches the deeds.
We apply for the searches and raise any enquiries.
We receive our version of your mortgage offer and ensure that any special conditions are dealt with.
We either send you a written report or ask you to meet with us so that you can look at all the information we have and sign the contract if you are happy to proceed. It is not legally binding until exchange.
You will let us have a deposit. This is part of the purchase price which is paid by you and held by the seller's solicitors. The contract normally provides for this to be 10% of the total price. However there are circumstances where this is not possible and a lower amount can usually be agreed.
When everyone in the chain is ready, a completion (moving) date can be agreed and contracts are formally exchanged by the solicitors involved.
Once Contracts are exchanged you are legally committed to the move, and you can now make removal arrangements etc.
 
Before completion
We draft the final documents.
We ask some final questions of the seller's solicitors.
We ask your lender to forward the funds to us. Please be aware that it sometimes takes up to 5 days for them to process this request.
We undertake a final search with the Land Registry to make sure that nothing untoward happened with the property recently and we make sure that you aren't an undischarged bankrupt
We calculate the financial statement which shows how much you will receive and how much we need from you.
 
On completion day

This is the magical date you have been waiting for! On completion day we receive the money from your lender and forward it to the seller's solicitor. On this date:

You can collect your keys from the estate agent, usually after 1pm, unless you have made other arrangements.
We pay your Stamp Duty Land Tax to the Inland Revenue
Please note that completion must take place on a working day (Monday to Friday), because money transfers cannot take place at the weekend.

After Completion
We register your ownership of the property with the Land Registry
We advise you, and your mortgage lender, that the application has been completed.
We forward all the deeds and documents to you so that you can keep them safely, ready for when you sell.