Selling process query

sam121285

Hello. 

Abit if background. We have just had an offer put in on our house which we have excepted, a lot under the asking price but it’s a small house in not the most amazing area (bought when I was a student teacher so it’s time for an upgrade) and with everything going on we decided to accept. We have yet to find a property we love but are happy to move in with parents should we not be able to. Equally we where happy to move forward with a new house without selling mine, although the second home stamp duty wasn’t pleasant! 

Anyway. I bought this house as a new build and have never sold one before. My question is. What is the rough process?!

So far I have instructed a solicitor and provided them with ID and signed Simple paperwork with contact details etc. What happens next??

any foresight would be great as want this all to be as smooth as possible. I’m a senior leader in a school and currently planning reopening which is stressful enough on its own! 

Thanks in advance 

SameOldRoundabout

Purely to sell, you will get a huge bundle of paperwork through soon from your solicitors to fill in. Contents form, legal declarations etc. Send them any relevant paperwork such as guarantees for the house, gas safety certificates and the like. It’ll then go to the buyers solicitors and they’ll come back with queries you need to answer. Assuming their survey and mortgage goes through without a hitch that’s pretty much it. You are just waiting to exchange and set completion date. 

If you were to find a house in the meantime it’ll get twice as complicated as you’ll then be in a chain and trying to co-ordinate 2 transactions. It’s the norm though so nothing to worry about! 

SameOldRoundabout

Ps, it sounds simple but any transaction comes with stress and time delays, so just try and not let it get under your skin too much. 

sam121285

SameOldRoundabout said:

Ps, it sounds simple but any transaction comes with stress and time delays, so just try and not let it get under your skin too much. 

Thank you! Appreciate the advice.  

Tiglet2

Now that you have instructed a solicitor, you will want them to start the work.  It looks like you have done the preliminary steps. 

 Your solicitor needs a sales memorandum from the estate agent, setting out who the buyer is and the name of their solicitor, together with your details and the sale price. 

Your solicitor will write to the buyer's solicitor just to confirm that they are instructed.  The buyer's solicitor will write to confirm that they are acting for the buyer.  This bit is usually done by post.  Your solicitor will also write to your lender (if the property is mortgaged) to obtain a redemption statement showing how much is outstanding on the mortgage.  They will also write to your management company (if applicable) to obtain details about their fees for providing a management pack.  If you have a management company, you will need to pay for the management pack.

Then your solicitor will need to send the buyer's solicitor a draft contract.  This contains lots of documents, some of which you will need to complete and return.  You will need to complete the Property Information Form, Fixtures & Contents Form and Leasehold Information Form (if leasehold).  You will need to send over any accompanying documents, i.e. boiler certificate, electrical certificate etc, if these relate to any of the questions within the forms.  You will also need to transfer some funds to your solicitor in order that they can start the work.   If you do not send these forms back quickly, this may hold up the sending of the draft contract.

Your solicitor sends over the draft contract, together with the forms, title register, title plan, EPC and any other accompanying documents/evidence.

The buyer's solicitor reviews everything within the draft contract pack and will then start to raise enquiries with your solicitor.  Some of the enquiries will be for the solicitor to answer, some will be for you to answer and some may have to be sent to third parties.  Your buyer may also raise enquiries in respect of their survey and/or negotiate with you for any items which are for sale and listed in the Fixtures & Contents Form.

The buyer's solicitor will draft a Transfer which you will need to sign (and get witnessed) in due course.

Now you will have to be patient while the enquiries go back and forth until your buyer's are happy with the responses.

Once the enquiries are well under way, your solicitor will need your instructions regarding whether they or you are paying the estate agent on completion and what account you want the monies from the sale paid into.  The solicitor will also need an up to date redemption statement from your lender so that they can send the correct amount of monies on completion to redeem the loan.

Did you buy your property with the help of a Help to Buy Equity Loan?  If so, there are also quite a few steps involved in settling this.  It would be a good idea for you to have a read of their instructions for repaying the equity loan when selling.

sam121285

Did you buy your property with the help of a Help to Buy Equity Loan?  If so, there are also quite a few steps involved in settling this.  It would be a good idea for you to have a read of their instructions for repaying the equity loan when selling.

Yes we did. I have contacted the company who Now owns this and got details of how to start. My solictor is contacting them on Monday 

eddddy

sam121285 said:

We have yet to find a property we love but are happy to move in with parents should we not be able to. 

What have you (or your Estate Agent) told the buyers about this?

For example, if your buyers have been led to believe (or just assumed) that you're prepared to move in with your parents in a few weeks time, they might be quite disappointed if you then tell them that you've found a property to buy and they're at the bottom of an incomplete chain which might take 6 months+ to reach completion.  

Although, I suspect your Estate Agent will have their opinion on the tactics they want to use -  which often initially involves telling both buyer and seller whatever they want to hear - then gradually trying to persuade one or both to accept something different.

sam121285

eddddy said:

sam121285 said:

We have yet to find a property we love but are happy to move in with parents should we not be able to. 

What have you (or your Estate Agent) told the buyers about this?

For example, if your buyers have been led to believe (or just assumed) that you're prepared to move in with your parents in a few weeks time, they might be quite disappointed if you then tell them that you've found a property to buy and they're at the bottom of an incomplete chain which might take 6 months+ to reach completion.  

Although, I suspect your Estate Agent will have their opinion on the tactics they want to use -  which often initially involves telling both buyer and seller whatever they want to hear - then gradually trying to persuade one or both to accept something different.

Hello. 

Even if we find a property we are happy to move out before completion so buyer can move in. My husband is in the army so we have the option of army accommodation temporary and he is due to go away so it limits the pressure on my parents should we move in there. 

Although to be fair the buyer has never enquired about our plans moving forward