Why do I need a Solicitor to sell my house outright

whitejohn

Why do I need a Solicitor to sell outright?

I have the house deeds and own the freehold house outright.
I am selling up completely and not buying anything else.
Why can I not just hand over deeds when the money is in the bank?

£450 seems a lot to just hand over the deeds. Surely it's the buyer that really needs a Solicitor and not me?

jc808

The buyers solicitor may not want to deal with you - especially if they have a mortgage company involved

whitejohn

jc808 wrote: »

The buyers solicitor may not want to deal with you - especially if they have a mortgage company involved

Instant reply that one!
I can see why they would not want to deal with a non-professional if there was work to be done but there is no work whatsoever for me.

It's up to them to do their own searches etc. They need absolutely nothing from me and would not rely on any information from me anyhow. No mortgages involved on either side but even if there was on their side surely that has nothing whatsoever to do with me.

richardw

How will you know that the contract is Ok?

G_M

It is not as simple as 'just hand over the deeds'.

For a start, 'Deeds' are no longer used, as Title is held at the Land Registry electrinically. If the property is not yet registered with LR, then 1st registration will be compulsory.

However, you are right, it IS possible to do your own conveyancing.

But you need a certain level of literacy, intelligence, time, and attention to detail.

If you have these, by all means DIY.

However,the naivity of your post indicates you will have a large learning curve.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Which-Guide-Conveyancing-Consumer-Guides/dp/085202813X

Richard_Webster

How do the buyer's solicitors know that you are the real owner of the property?. You have to prove your ID to them

You will have to draw up a contract and supply copy Land Registry documents for the buyer's solicitors to check. Normally exchange of contracts takes place over the phone with solicitors giving each other binding professional undertakings to put the contract in the post and send the deposit money on. You can't give such an undertaking so exchange has to take place in person.

Similarly when it comes to completion the buyer's solicitor normally sends the money on the strength of the seller's solicitor's undertaking to forward the signed documents and release keys to allow possession. So completion too would involve the solicitors meeting you and checking the documents that you were going to hand over before parting with any funds.

If the buyer;'s solicitor are at the other end of the country their client will not take kindly to being charged the extra (several hundred pounds) for personal visits to you to exchange and complete. The buyer might want a price reduction to compensate - which would wipe out your saving on legal fees. Alternatively you arrange (twice) to visit the buyer's solicitor's office to provide ID and exchange and complete in person.

G_M

Everything Richard says above is true- but these are not necessarily insurmountable issues.

I've done it a number oftimes (both buying & selling) over the years.

Yes, you have to attend in person (so the 'other end of the country' would be a problem) but I always offer to attend their offices, whatever the protocol of who attends where. This also resolves the ID issue.

And yes, there is a contract to draw up, papers to prepare/provide, questions tobe answered.

It can all be done IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

As I said before, I suspect your learning curve would be huge in this case, so I would not recommend.

Richard_Webster

Everything Richard says above is true- but these are not necessarily insurmountable issues.

I've done it a number oftimes (both buying & selling) over the years.

Yes, you have to attend in person (so the 'other end of the country' would be a problem) but I always offer to attend their offices, whatever the protocol of who attends where. This also resolves the ID issue.

And yes, there is a contract to draw up, papers to prepare/provide, questions tobe answered.

It can all be done IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

As I said before, I suspect your learning curve would be huge in this case, so I would not recommend.

Obviously as GM says it can be done - but you do have think through the issues and how you will deal with them - and unfortunately few do.

whitejohn

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Obviously as GM says it can be done - but you do have think through the issues and how you will deal with them - and unfortunately few do.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, I'm happy with that.
Was never trying to get the job done for nothing, just that when struggling to make needs meet, I thought it looked expensive and was expecting more like £250 as previously paid £500 for a buy/sell and thought this would be half the work. I think it is already registered electronically.

G_M

whitejohn wrote: »

...... I think it is already registered electronically.

You can check here for £3:

http://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/www/wps/portal/!ut/p/b1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOKNjSxMDA1NjDwsjM3MDTxN3dyNDUNMjQ1MjPWDU_P0C7IdFQG9k5Tz/

G_M

G_M wrote: »

You can check here for £3:

http://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/www/wps/portal/!ut/p/b1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOKNjSxMDA1NjDwsjM3MDTxN3dyNDUNMjQ1MjPWDU_P0C7IdFQG9k5Tz/

On reflection, you don't even need to pay £3.

If the Title is listed and available to buy on the Land Reg site, then it is electronically registered.

Whether you choose to pay £3 to actually download it is another option.