Our ‘guide to selling a home’ sets out the procedure of a standard residential sale – A guide to selling your home.
Before we arrange to open a file on a sale, we are required to send our identity verification link to clients. Once the verification process has been finalised, we will send our initial documentation together with the protocol forms for completion. The protocol forms are the Law Society’s Property Information and Fittings and Contents Forms and, where applicable, the Leasehold Information Form. This stage of the process can take a week or two to complete.
Once a sale has been agreed and the buyer has appointed a solicitor, we are required to prepare and issue the contract documentation. In order to do so, all the above information and completed forms must be received beforehand.
The contract pack will include details of the property’s title and ownership, the completed Property Information and Fittings and Contents Forms and any other relevant supporting documentation (i.e. certificates for work, guarantees etc).
If we are only appointed to act when a sale has been agreed, it can take longer to collate the necessary information before the contract documentation can be issued. For this reason and to alleviate unnecessary delays, we have introduced the Michelmores Home Advantage Service, which we recommend to all clients selling a property. This service is designed to reduce the time between instruction and sending the contract documentation.
We recommend that clients instruct us to open a file prior to a sale being agreed, this can be when the property is marketed initially with the estate agents or while viewings are being arranged. As soon as we have been instructed, we will carry out the ID checks and send any required documents to the clients to be completed. We therefore will hold all completed forms and documents on the file ready to send to the buyer’s solicitors as soon as a sale has been agreed.
We aim to send the contract pack within 24 – 48 hours of receiving the memorandum of sale from the estate agents. The Home Advantage Service ensures that all information is prepared in advance, removing the usual delay between the memorandum being issued and the contract pack being sent.
In addition, we will obtain the title documents from the Land Registry before a sale is agreed meaning if there are any title defects or issues revealed, we can correct these before a buyer has been found.
On receipt of the contract pack, the buyer’s solicitors can submit searches and make a start on reviewing the information to raise any necessary enquiries.
If you are considering selling a property and would like to benefit from a smoother and more efficient transaction, please do not hesitate to contact us for a quote or to discuss how we can assist you. Our team would be happy to guide you through the process and answer any questions you may have.
