DIY conveyancing, as a seller

Sycorax

I have seen a few threads on the DIY conveyancing subject but most seem to be coming at it from the buyers perspective.

I'm looking to sell a leasehold property, no mortgage, £249,999 (the price was agreed prior to the changes in stamp duty).

Like most folks I'm aghast at the cost (£600 plus identity verification etc etc).

So I was wondering if as seller I could do my own? I appreciate there's the added complication of it being leasehold...

G_M

Selling is easier (and safer!) than buying.

As a seller, you just have to be sure you get the cash - easy to check. As a buyer, you end up wih a property but it might have all sorts of legal issues associated with it - hence all the pre-contract checking.

Leasehold is more complex than freehold. Seller will need to get info from freeholder/management company to satisfy the buyer.

Is there a mortgage? If yes, how will it be paid off? Normally a solicior receives the sale cash and then uses that to pay off the mortgage. But if you DIY, no buyer will trust you with the cash till after you have discharged the mortgage (just in case you don't).

Sycorax

The good news is I'm a Director for the management company, so getting access to info is easy and most of my fellow directors are also directors for the freehold company.

As the seller I keep thinking all I have to do is hand over the lease, share certificate and any legal docs relating to the property. The buyers solictor would sort the rest out........As mentioned in the OP I have no mortgage on the property.

However, I am aware there is the issue of verification of id, for the transfer of ownership with Land Registry. Again is this something that the buys solicitor could/would do if I presented the required docs?

I'm wondering if there's a link to a site or somesuch that would give me a sellers guide to DIY conveyancing, so far I can't find anything.

G_M

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Which-Guide-Conveyancing-Consumer-Guides/dp/085202813X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424368730&sr=1-2&keywords=diy+conveyancing

https://www.waterstones.com/ebook/house-buying-selling-and-conveyancing/joseph-bradshaw/georgia-bedworth/9781906971458

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bradshaws-Guide-Buying-Selling-Conveyancing/dp/B001KSX616/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424369191&sr=1-4&keywords=diy+conveyancing

and the classic but out of date:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conveyancing-Fraud-Michael-Joseph/dp/0950502340/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424369276&sr=1-1&keywords=conveyancing+fraud

Sycorax

Thanks so much for your help!

rayed

hi,

I sold myself but freehold and unencumbered so probably the easiest type of sale.

Fairly straight forward, most difficult part was finding a solicitor who would validate our identity (now required by Land Registry), highest quote was £300 for five minutes work! Managed to find one half an hour away who quoted £50 for the two of us (jointly owned property), he was really nice guy who was fascinated I was doing a conveyance myself, afterwards he said I can't charge you that much and reduced it to £25!

Glad to see someone else having a go, hope it goes well.

Sycorax

Thanks rayed, there is a Land Registry office not too far from me, I wonder if they would validate the id themselves? I know they will for a transfer of ownership (I'm doing this myself in relation to another property).

I'll drop them a note and ask the question.

Land_Registry

Sycorax - any ID verification completed by us at one of our offices can only be done at the same time as any application as lodged. As you are selling the property I suspect this is very unlikely to be something the buyers will agree to as it would be them who submit the final application

The buyers' solicitor would complete their application form to include either details of your legal representation or confirmation that they had satisfied themselves as to your identity. As a result I would approach them and ask what they need from you in order to be satisfied and therefore able to complete their application form.

Sycorax

Thank you for the info, that's very helpful.

In theory then I could go to the buyer solicitors office (assuming he's not using an on line solicitor but one local to him), present all my proofs of id at the same time as handing over the various title deeds, lease etc....

Land_Registry

That is possible but as you suggest all down to how their conveyancer wants to approach it.

G_M

For various reasons you will need to be face-to-face with the buyer's solicitor at Completion:

* ID check
* you won't want to hand over the signed TR1 to the buyer till you've rung your bank and verified the cash has arrived
* You'll need to hand over the various documents - the buyer won't accept an undertaking from you to post them!

So none of this will work unless the buyer's solicitor is acessible. A certain degree of cooperation is needed by them too - some solicitors are very sniffy about DIY conveyancers.....