Solicitor for selling my property

[Deleted User]

First time seller, please excuse this basic question. I am selling my leasehold property and the agent had mentioned that the buyer may require me to start the lease extension process, should I look for a specialist solicitor who can do both selling and lease extension  ? or get one for selling and one for extending the lease, just in case I do not need to extend the lease?

eddddy

It will be your buyer who should have the specialist lease extension solicitor.

Typically, you will need to start the process by serving a section 42 notice between exchange and completion. Then you hand-over to the buyer.



Taking a step back, the things that can go wrong are at that stage are:

• The section 42 notice has errors which make it invalid - so the buyer doesn't get their lease extension

• The section 42 notice states an unnecessarily high price for the lease extension - so the buyer ends up paying more than they needed to

So, in simple terms, in your position, I would say to the buyer (and/or their solicitor) something like:

• "You write out the section 42 notice and specify a price. Then I will sign it and serve it. So you can make sure the notice says what you want it to say, and make sure there are no errors."

Then, if there are any errors in the notice, or the price quoted is too high, it is clearly the buyer's (or their solicitor's) fault.

[Deleted User]

eddddy said:

It will be your buyer who should have the specialist lease extension solicitor.

Typically, you will need to start the process by serving a section 42 notice between exchange and completion. Then you hand-over to the buyer.



Taking a step back, the things that can go wrong are at that stage are:

• The section 42 notice has errors which make it invalid - so the buyer doesn't get their lease extension

• The section 42 notice states an unnecessarily high price for the lease extension - so the buyer ends up paying more than they needed to

So, in simple terms, in your position, I would say to the buyer (and/or their solicitor) something like:

• "You write out the section 42 notice and specify a price. Then I will sign it and serve it. So you can make sure the notice says what you want it to say, and make sure there are no errors."

Then, if there are any errors in the notice, or the price quoted is too high, it is clearly the buyer's (or their solicitor's) fault.

Very helpful information. 

When it gets to the point that  the buyers want me to start the lease extension process:

'You write out the section 42 notice and specify a price. Then I will sign it and serve it. So you can make sure the notice says what you want it to say, and make sure there are no errors."'

I take it this will be done via my solicitor and the buyer's solicitor?  As I will be signing the Section 42 notice, will there be anything I need to be mindful of just in case it comes back to me?

As I will not be needing a lease extension specialist solicitor, do most solicitor has experinece with hanlding the sell of leasheold properties? or I need to look for specialist firm?  A bit nervous as so many new things to learn.