Buying & selling your house legal advice
Moving home is one of life’s most stressful challenges and with three quarters of UK homes owner occupied, most of us will be buyers and sellers at some point in our lives. A calm, focused solicitor can make all the difference in the matter, keeping the process smooth and under control. We remain impartial throughout, offering crystal clear advice from the start, through all the legal and technical details, until completion and beyond if necessary.
Whether buying or selling, we will ensure you are aware of everything pertinent to the sale and will carefully monitor the transaction throughout.
Legal experts in buying & selling homes
If you are buying a property, it’s our duty to ensure everything is ready for your moving in date, and we go to great lengths to fulfill this duty. This means carefully managing the transaction from the start, beginning with the best advice on which type of survey you require before making your offer. We will make sure any financial queries you have are properly answered, such as the amount you put down as a deposit, or any specific mortgage conditions, or stamp duty and leaseholder notice fees which will affect the cost of buying and keeping your home.
If you are selling, we will keep that all important regular contact with the buyer’s solicitor and draw up the necessary property forms and fixtures and fittings lists that will smooth the sale. We can advise on any estate agent’s fees and check any agreements they have asked you to sign. We’ll be on hand to finalise the deal, provide the Deeds for signing and will remain involved until everything is settled.
Legal advice when buying & selling a house
There are usually 8 to 10 weeks between the acceptance of an offer and the completion of a deal. However, the property chain can often create delays over which nobody really has much control. At such times, legal representation plays a vital part in keeping you aware of the changes and of the parts other people, for example solicitors, surveyors, your lender and estate agents are playing. Even when deals progress smoothly, we will remain instrumental at each legal stage from pre-contract research and valuations to post-completion and transfer of deeds. Whether you’re buying or selling, contact us for a straightforward, expert view on how we can transfer the legal stresses of the deal from your shoulders to ours. You could even consult our Conveyancing Online section, for a free quote in seconds.
About Home Information Packs (HIPS)
From 14 December 2007, vendors of residential properties will need a Home Information Pack, or a HIP, before selling. From this date houses with 1 or 2 bedrooms will also be included within the new regime which has been a requirement for larger houses since August 2007. The idea is that the packs contain all the information on a property that is currently only revealed once someone has made an offer.
Research carried out by Which? Magazine recently revealed that approximately £350m is spent on house sales transactions that fall through because a survey reveals flaws that render buyers unable to secure a mortgage. It’s hoped that the HIP will put a stop to this, by providing information upfront. As the HIP programme evolves, we’ll be able to advise more thoroughly on the implications for both buyers and sellers.
For more information call 0870 1500 100, or use the links above to drop us a line or request a call back.