Step-by-Step Conveyancing Process for Buyers and Sellers

When it is time to buy or sell a home, there are more intricacies involved in the process than can be believed is Conveyance process. Most of these are not apparent exactly at the moment, so most of these have to be known from before to understand and avoid any potential harm. Therefore, when a purchase or sale of a property is happening, it is best to know what is involved and to understand the Conveyance process in full extent.

What is Conveyancing Process?

Conveyancing Process is the legal transfer of real property from the owner to another person which is an integral part of buying or selling home. It is also the process of granting an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien from the owner to another person. Conveyancing Process usually involves the buyer hiring the services of a licensed conveyancer whose obligation is to ensure that all the rights to the property are transferred legally to his client.

A normal conveyancing transaction has two parts:

1. The exchange of contracts: During thestage, the equitable interests are created before anything else can happen.
2. Completion: This phase handles the settlement, where the actual legal title passes and the equitable rights previously created merges with the legal title.

For further information on buying or selling properties in England or Wales, one must have adequate knowledge about the rules and regulations before dealing in purchase or sale.

Why use a Conveyancer for the Purchase or Sale of property?

During the purchase or sale of property, there are innumerable things to keep in mind. It is not for the amateur with no knowledge of the laws and the required documents for purchase or sale of the property. An expert hand helps make the transition a lot smoother. For further detailed information please visit the official website. If you are a first time buyer in UK there are certain exemptions that are provided by the Government.

There are a number of advantages of hiring a Conveyancer:

There are a number of advantages of hiring a Conveyancer:

1. The transition is made smoother.
2. A Conveyancer is a professional and aware of the intricate details that might have been missed.
3. Less chance of complication in the future due to any missing documents at the time of purchase or sale in the future.
4. Hiring a Conveyancer helps delegate authority giving fewer headaches at a time when moving and shifting property has to be thought about already.
5. Simply put, it is easier to just hire a Conveyancer.

What are the conveyancing fees for selling or buying property?

The average conveyancing fees of a solicitor are in the range of £600 to £1,200. The least you can expect for hiring a conveyancing solicitor would be £500. Although that is not the total amount that you have to pay because there are other overhead charges (disbursement charges which has to be paid to the third parties). The different types and the average cost of these disbursement charges are

Anti-money laundering checks can cost around £15 which are carried out to check and verify your identity.

Title-Deeds cost around £10 which would include a basic set of documents and a few additional documents. However, it would cost around £20 to get documents for leasehold properties.

Paying around £250 to the Land Registry for transferring your name on completion of ownership

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the tax that has to be paid while purchasing a residential property if the cost is more than £125,000. If you want to know more about this tax, you can always count on our counselors help.

What are the steps that have to be followed for the conveyancing process for selling a property?

The Conveyancing process is not at all easy and needs to be followed step by step for it to be properly successful. The following is an exhaustive step by step guide as to what the entire conveyancing process entails.

1. In the very first step, it is important to notify the seller’s Conveyancer. (A Conveyancer is a specialist lawyer, who deals with the buying and selling of real property)
2. Seller’s Conveyancer confirms receipt of instruction and begins the business relationship, by setting out and framing the terms under which the business is conducted and the fixed costs which are entailed.
3. The first thing after thecommencement of business, that a Seller’s Conveyancer does is to establish proof of identity checks, following which he sends out a form which has to be filled with fittings and contents. Along with these forms other formswhich will be filled up with the information of the property itself are also sent. If the property in question is leasehold, additional information has to be provided to satisfy the conditions.
4. The seller has to complete and fill in the contents and fittings form with all the correct and double checked details. Any mistakes at this stage can cause major problems to the entire process, and disrupt it. The seller must also fill in the property information form with all the information that he wants to share about the property and those which are required legally by the form.
5. The Seller Conveyancer makes the next step as he obtains the title deeds of the property from the deeds holder which contains the official registered ownership information of the property. The Conveyancer can also obtain the official copies of the title register and any other document which is required by The Land Registry. Along with all this information, there is also a requirement to submit details on the amount outstanding on the existing mortgage, if such a mortgage at all exists,to begin with.
6. The Seller’s Conveyancer next prepares the draft contract and the documents supporting the contract alongside this. After preparation of these detailed documents they are sent to the Buyer’s Conveyancer.
7. The Buyer’s Conveyancer checks the contract and the documentation that has been sent to support the contract. Finally, if satisfied with the documents that are presented, the Buyer’s Conveyancer raises queries regarding sale and purchase of the property with the Seller’s Conveyancer.
8. Seller’s Conveyancer takes the pre-contract inquiries to the seller, and after the discussion of the enquiries an answer is sent.
9. The Buyer’s Conveyancer meanwhile has been carrying out searches for relevant information, and confirm that they have acceptable results from their searches to the Seller’s Conveyancer. They then indicate whether or not they are happy with the answers that they received to the Pre-Contract inquiries that they had sent before. They also confirm that they are in receipt of a mortgage offer if a mortgage exists in the house at all
10. Seller and Buyer now go on to decide a mutually acceptable date of completion, and now the contracts are formally exchanged in the eyes of the law. By making this decision to exchange the contracts, it means both the parties, i.e., the buyer and the seller, are committed to the transaction. Seller’s conveyancer now has to obtain a settlement figure large enough to repay the outstanding amount of mortgage on the house, if such a mortgage is at all in existence in reality. The Buyer’s conveyancer at this stage drafts a transfer deed and sends it to proceed with the purchase and sale to the Seller’s conveyancer
11. Seller’s Conveyancer is now in possession of the Transfer deed,and he forwards it to the seller for the signature, which is one of the final steps heading towards completion of the sale.
12. Once thesignature has been made, the seller must vacate the property. The Vacating of the property must be done at a time that was agreed on previously. There must be an arrangement whereby the keys are handed over, though this is usually done through the agent of the estate. Buyer’s Conveyancer makes arrangements to send the proceeds of the Sale to the Seller’s Conveyancer, who in turn makes the required arrangement for handing over the key.
13. The Seller’s Conveyancer also sends the title deeds and transfer deed over to the Buyer’s Conveyancer, while also undertaking the responsibility of using the proceeds of the sale to remove the existence of any mortgage that happened to be there on the property.
14. Following this, the Seller’s Conveyancer uses the proceeds to pay the estate agent, pay the amount that is remained owed to the mortgage lender (if there was one in existence), and takes the payment for their conveyancing services rendered during the whole process of purchase and sale.
15. Once all of these payments have been made,and nothing is left due, the entirety of the rest of the money left over after this entire process is transferred to the seller. The Transfer is sent by Bank Transfer, usually on the day following the sale, thereby finally bringing an end to the entire process.

What is the Conveyancing Process involved in buying a property?

Any process for Conveyance is long and complicated. It is not at all simple, and consists of a large number of steps. The following is the step by step guide to the process of Conveyancing which is involved in the buying of property:

1. The Buyer makes an offer on the property after finding it and taking a liking to it. Upon receiving this offer, the seller evaluates it and eventually accepts it and makes this known to the buyer, thereby starting the business relationship
2. The Buyer’s Conveyancer receives the required instructions once the acceptance from the seller is received to start the process of conveyancing the entire purchase of the property from the seller.
3. Buyer arranges for a survey of the property to check the quality and the authenticity of the entire purchase and makes an application for a mortgage if such a mortgage is indeed deemed to be necessary.
4. Buyer’s Conveyancer now at this stage finally confirms the instructions in the eyes of the law by putting them in a letter, also set out the terms of the entire business to be conducted along with the fixed costs that the business will entail.
5. Buyer’s Conveyancer contacts the Seller’s Conveyancer to retrieve the contract pack.
6. Buyer’s Conveyancer now has to check the contract pack and look through it for any changes that may need to be made to the entirety of the contract before it is agreedto. Before the contract is accepted the Conveyancer then sends out a pre-contract inquiry to make the needed searches and then obtains a copy of the mortgage offer that may or may not hasbeen made.
7. Seller’s Conveyancer and Seller now have to look through these pre-contract inquiries before making sure to answer all of them to clear any doubts that may have existed about the property and the business about to start.
8. The Buyer’s Conveyancer meanwhile studies the contract pack and reports to the buyer about the contents, also letting him,orher know about the results of the searches and the answers received for the pre-contract inquiries which had been made.
9. The buyer considers these and then asks any question about any aspect that may still appear to be unclear.
10. When the buyer is finally happy and ready to proceed, arrangements have to be made for the deposit to be paid to buyer’s conveyancer, to be ready for the exchange of the contracts.
11. Seller and the Buyer agree and reach an understanding of the completion date,and the contracts are finally exchanged between the two parties formally. The moment this exchange takes place, it means both parties are committed to the transaction
12. A Draft Transfer deed is now made by the Buyer’s Conveyancer, along with a completion information form. These are both sent to the Seller’s Conveyancer for completion of the transaction in the eyes of the law.
13. Seller’s Conveyancer now has to agree to the Draft Transfer deed, and a final copy of it is made. This has to be signed by the buyer before it is sent to the Seller’s lawyer by the seller as thereadinessfor completion of the transaction.
14. Buyer’s Conveyancer prepares a completion statement, following which pre-completion searches are carried out just to be sure, and an application is made to the buyer’s mortgage lender for the mortgage loan.
15. Once this is completed, the Seller vacates the property by the agreed upon time, and the agreed-upon proceeds of the sale are sent to the Seller’s Conveyancer by the Buyer’s Conveyancer.
16. Seller’s Conveyancer now releases the key to the estate agent if one was used, otherwise makes other arrangements for the transfer of the key to the Buyer. The Seller’s Conveyancer then sends the title deed of the property and the transfer deed to the Buyer’s conveyancer, along with an undertaking to pay off any existing mortgage payment that might have been in existence.
17. The next step consists of the Buyer’s conveyancer sending the Stamp Duty of the Purchase to the HMRC
18. The Buyer’s Conveyancer receives the Title deed, the transfer deed, and the attached proof that the seller has truly paid off the remaining outstanding mortgage payment if there was any,to begin with.
19. Buyer’s Conveyancer uses all the documents that are in his/her possession to register the purchased property in the name of the buyer from the Land Registry.
20. The Buyer now finally receives a copy of the registered title from the Land Registry. Any documents required by the lender of the mortgage to be retained, are sent by the Buyer’s lawyer.

About the author

Sumit Agarwal
Sumit Agarwal (ACMA ACA India), the Managing partner of dns accountants is a highly respected accountant with expertise in helping owner-managed businesses.