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Doing everything electronically

HappyFrog
HappyFrog Posts: 37 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Hello everyone – first time post and looking for some advice..

We are looking to sell our house (owned outright, no mortgage), but we live overseas and will not be able to travel back to the UK to do any admin stuff. So we need to do everything on-line. Posting documents is do-able, but with about a months’ delay from sending something from the UK and it arriving back (or vice versa), something we would like to avoid.

So the question is, is this possible? We have our house listed for sale with an estate agent, but it is the conveyancing process we are a bit concerned about. Has anyone been through this and managed to sell their property completely electronically/on line without having to shuffle bits of paper about? I’ve seen some references to something called the Bonafidee system that allows electronic e-signature exchange of contracts for a residential property transaction. This sounds like something that could work for us. Anyone have experience of this?

Many thanks
«1

Comments

  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,585 Ambassador
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    I asked my solicitor if we could do this as I am selling a property which is in the name of myself, my sister and brother who live 250 miles away. Unfortunately he said we could not due to risk of fraud etc. We managed to do an e contract for the estate agent but the contract and transfer deeds have all had to be posted special delivery between us. He also wanted to see evidence of original id for each of us again to satisfy money laundering regulations. This was not easy again due to distance so you may have an issue with this
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,407 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    HappyFrog wrote: »
    Posting documents is do-able, but with about a months’ delay from sending something from the UK and it arriving back (or vice versa), something we would like to avoid.

    Isn't there a courier service that you can use? That's how I've always dealt with foreign property transactions.

    There's a very limited amount of paperwork that needs an original signature. Most stuff can be handled by email.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    ID can be checked by someone local (obviously you don't really want to e.g. send your passport back to the UK).

    You can sign a power of attorney authorising your solicitor (or someone else in the UK) to sign almost anything else on your behalf. Speak to a solicitor.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    Where on earth do you live that airmail takes a month round-trip?
  • Niv
    Niv Posts: 2,468 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    Where on earth do you live that airmail takes a month round-trip?


    sounds ideallic though.
    YNWA

    Target: Mortgage free by 58.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    AdrianC wrote: »
    Where on earth do you live that airmail takes a month round-trip?
    Also should have said - even if something does need your hard copy signature, it can be emailed to you, so that brings it down to a mere fortnight.
  • HappyFrog
    HappyFrog Posts: 37 Forumite
    Thanks for your replies. Looks like we will be going with a conveyancer that is happy communicating via e-mail and using courier services for the few occasions when a hard copy signature or the like is needed.
  • saajan_12
    saajan_12 Posts: 3,619 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    Jim_Benham wrote: »
    Hello everyone, I’m posting this as an employee of Bonafidee Ltd. ...

    Please remove your post, you must be authorised by MSE mods to post on behalf of a company.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    Jim_Benham wrote: »
    Hello everyone, I’m posting this as an employee of Bonafidee Ltd. Our advanced e-signature platform does indeed speed up the home buying process and it was used to facilitate the first ever e-signature exchange of contracts back in April 2017. A change in the law is necessary though to enable the conveyancing process to become entirely electronic, because as it stands a legal transfer must be effected by deed and deeds still require wet signatures, both of the signatories and the witnesses. Bonafidee mitigates against the risk of fraud because it incorporates built in identity checks, that can prove without reasonable doubt, that the signatories are who they say they are.
    That's nice, but your attention to contractual detail appears to have overlooked the forum rules stating that businesses aren't allowed to post here without permission from MSE.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,199 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    OP, transferring a property requires a 'real' signature.Your solicitors would be able to e-mail documents for you to print off, sign and then courier back to them. A TR1 (transfer deed) needs to be witnessed - the witness does not need to be a solicitor, however, you may want to see whether you can get staff at your nearest British Embassy or Consulate to witness for you, or another British Ex-Pat, as while it is rare to need to do so, the point of having a witness is so that they can confirm that it was actually you who signed - and as you being out of the country and not meeting your solicitor directly makes this high-risk, it may be something which your solicitors will want to check, so an English speaking witness would be a bonus!

    It would be possible to grant a limited power of attorney to allow your solicitor or another person to sign the deed on your behalf, but then you would have to pay for the POA to be drawn up, so you may find that simply using a courier to get the documents back would be more cost effective.
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
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