Your solicitors will deal with registration of the property and pay off any outstanding debts secured against it (if not done just before). Normally an amount of money would have been held back to settle any service charge debts. If too much was held back, this retention would then be released back to you.

This is the day all the money is dealt with. For your sale, the funds from the buyer are received by your solicitor and will typically be released the same day as long as you are providing keys to an empty property. Any mortgages or other secured debts are repaid by your solicitor with any remaining balance then transferred to …

Your solicitor will ask you when you would like to complete the sale. They will also speak with solicitors representing any other parties and look to agree the same.

This is the point where you are committed to a sale or a purchase, as is whoever is buying your property. All parties will have signed contracts and confirmed to the other(s) that they are able to exchange contracts.

Your solicitor will ask you to sign the contract and a transfer form, in readiness. If whoever is buying your property signs their version of the contract, solicitors will be ready to exchange contracts. If you are buying somewhere as well, you may sign the contract for purchase at the same time as well. The transfer form will be lodged …

If you have a mortgage or any other secured debts on the property you are selling, your solicitor will find out how much is owed on each. They would ordinarily only be able to commit to your sale if there is enough money coming in to pay off any debts that are secured on the property. This could include any …

If you intend to take a mortgage, this is the appropriate time to be asking for the mortgage valuation or survey to be carried out. This is needed for the mortgage lender to decide whether the property you are buying is enough security for them to agree to provide you with the loan. Typically a Mortgage offer will follow the …

Your solicitor will provide you with a report identifying any issues which came back from questions they raised with the seller and the Local searches.

Local searches are enquires your solicitor will submit to organisations such as Local Councils, the Environment Agency, Coal and Water authorities. Responses can identify issues such as nearby planning applications to where you are buying that may impact on your decision to proceed including whether there is a future threat of compulsory purchase, whether the property is in an area …

The buyer will normally ask a number of questions. These may relate to the land registry information and in most cases, your solicitors will be able to answer them without your involvement. Some answers may however need to be checked with you. On some CPO cases, there will also be two specific forms to complete – a Fitting & Contents …

Your solicitors receive the draft contract from the buyers solicitor and review. They will negotiate any variations to it and ensure the financial amounts listed are as agreed.

Your solicitor will send you some paperwork to complete to instruct them. This will ask you information such as how much you’re selling for. Quite often, there’s a lot to fill in, especially if the forms in stage 3 are sent to you at the same time, which solicitors sometimes do if they have dealt with a  number of similar …