Offer to Completion
Receiving an offer for your property is an exciting moment. At this point the help and support of your Sales Factory agent will be more important than ever. It is important that this stage is handled carefully, fairly and ethically.
We’re bound by law to tell you of all offers as soon as is reasonably possible (as well as confirming them in writing).
Closing a sale and seeing it through to exchange can be a difficult process, and we provide advice and support during negotiations and all the way to completion. Close communication and teamwork will be key for a successful outcome.
Accepting an Offer
Once you’ve accepted an offer you’ll receive a Memorandum of Sale. This confirms to you, your buyer and both solicitors, the terms of the sale. This will include any special conditions including time frames for exchange and completion.
Make sure you check the Memorandum of Sale. Although it’s not legally binding, mistakes can slow down the sale process.
Your solicitor will send a draft contract to your buyer’s solicitor, who in turn starts the conveyancing process. This will include surveyors visiting your property.
Negotiations can occur throughout the conveyancing process and we will be on hand to advise you from start to finish. Remember, there are no legal obligations until you exchange contracts.
Leading Up to Exchange
Before you exchange contracts, a number of points will be discussed and agreed by both solicitors
Enquiries: these are any questions that the purchaser’s solicitor may have about your property, for example.
- Lease: if your property has a lease or a share of freehold, there might be specific questions that need to be raised. Often leases were written many years ago and don’t always comply with modern interpretation of the law or wordings.
- Assigning the lease: sometimes purchasers need permission to have the lease assigned to them by the freeholders or agents.
- Title: the purchaser’s solicitor will have checked that you have clean title to the ownership of the property.
- Local searches: these will have been received and checked.
- Fixtures and fittings: any fixture that you plan to take needs to be replaced with an equivalent product.
- Mortgage offer: the buyer will have received their mortgage offer.
At exchange
This is when you become legally committed to the sale. You will have signed the contract and your solicitor will have reported to you and advised whether, in their opinion, you are sensible to proceed.
At this point the buyer should pay a deposit, usually around 10% of the sale price, to your solicitor. Some solicitors may exchange on less than this. It is normally transferred and held in your solicitor’s account.
Between exchange and completion
- Buildings insurance: both you and the purchasers (because they now have an insurable interest) will need to keep buildings insurance running on your property.
- Removals: you will be surprised how early you need to book a removal company.
- Utilities: these need to be informed of your sale and completion date. Meter readings are taken on the day of completion.
- Council Tax: the local authority will need to be informed of your move.
- Post: all mail will need to be redirected to your new address.
- Fixtures and fittings: any fixture that you plan to take (i.e. wall lights, curtains, carpets) needs to be replaced with an equivalent product.
- Mortgage offer: the buyer will have received their mortgage offer.
Completion
This is where the keys to your property are handed over. We will give the set of keys we hold to the new owners and it is up to you to leave the remaining sets in the house.
The buyer’s solicitor will send over the completion funds. If you are involved in a chain, it can sometimes take until mid-afternoon for the money to clear into your solicitor’s account.
Your solicitor will call you and your agent to release the keys to your buyer.