Buying a Property
Property Purchase Solicitor
Buying a house is one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make and it can be a long and drawn out procedure.
If you are thinking of buying a new home, Wigster can help you find the right legal advice at the best possible price. It makes the whole buying process easier and more successful. You’ll also be able to avoid any possible problems down the line, like boundary disputes, discovering that a new road is to be built opposite your new home or even that the seller didn’t have the legal right to sell you the property.
Simply click on the “Get me a Quote” button below to start comparing prices and services of specialist Conveyancing Solicitors.
Conveyancing is the process of legally transferring ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer. Conveyancing also includes the various searches and checks and any final tasks following the sale.
There are five main stages of conveyancing for a buyer:
- Pre-contractual stage
- Exchange of contracts
- Between exchange and completion
- Completion
- After completion
Once you have made an offer to buy a property, legal documents need to be prepared to transfer ownership from the seller to you. The seller draws up a contract for your agreement – you can negotiate its terms if necessary. If you have instructed a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, they will carry out this work and advise you on the contents of the contract.
Before you sign and exchange the contract, both you and your solicitor or conveyancer should find out as much as possible about the property via checks and searches. The seller does not have to voluntarily tell you about problems there might be with the property or neighbourhood. The seller should, however, reply truthfully to enquiries.
If you are using a mortgage to buy your property, you will need a need a formal mortgage offer from your lender before you sign the contract. The lender will send documents for you or your solicitor or conveyancer to sign.
Exchange of contracts
When the buyer and seller are happy with its contents, they sign final copies of the contract and send them to each other. This is called the exchange of contracts. Once contracts are exchanged, the agreement to sell and buy is legally binding and usually neither party can pull out without paying compensation. Buyers will usually pay the seller a deposit (usually 10 per cent of the purchase price of the property) at the exchange of contracts stage.
After the exchange of contracts (if not dealt with already) your solicitor or conveyancer will:
- prepare the legal documents to transfer ownership
- check mortgage documents
- make sure that they have all the necessary funds – which may include payment of their own fees
- arrange for the transfer of funds to the seller
- do final Land Registry checks
- check all agreed tasks set out in the contract have been done, like agreed repairs
- check that fixtures and fittings have been left as agreed
Once all matters between exchange and completion have been dealt with, the money for the property is transferred from buyer to seller. The sale is now completed and the keys are handed over. The property now belongs to the buyer.
Find a Property Solicitor locally or nationally from a range of fixed legal cost options and select a quality Solicitor to save you money – wigster.com “Compare Solicitors, Compare Prices”
