Hallett Co. was established in Ashford in 1830. It is one of the oldest firms of solicitors in Kent and has a long history of advising local families and businesses. Today, the firm delivers the same tailored, client-focused service it has always done, combining this with a strong grasp of both modern law and the modern marketplace, advising and representing clients from within Kent and beyond on a broad range of legal matters.
This guide is designed to give you an overview of the process as we appreciate that selling a property can be a daunting process.
Instruct a solicitor or conveyancer
You should appoint a solicitor, licenced conveyancer or legal executive to carry out your conveyancing. You should obtain an estimate of fees to ensure you know the overall cost. Hallett & Co have an experienced team of property specialists who will be happy to assist you.
Once you have instructed a solicitor, you should inform the estate agent who will then send the memorandum of sale to the relevant parties.
Funding the purchase
If you need a mortgage for the purchase of the property you should begin to arrange this as early as possible in the transaction. You can do this with the assistance of a mortgage broker or directly through a bank or building society. As part of the purchase process, we are also instructed by your lender. Therefore, we need to be in receipt of their instructions to us in advance of exchange of contracts.
Receipt of the Draft contract
On receipt of the memorandum of sale we will write to you confirming the estimate of our fees and sending our compliance documentation but we are unable to progress your purchase until we have received the following form the seller’s solicitor: Land Registry title documentation for the property, forms which the seller has completed and the draft contract.
Searches and survey
We would always recommend that a local authority search, water and drainage search and environmental search are carried out. If you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender will insist that these are done.
You should have a survey carried out on the property, either a valuation or survey is required if you are obtaining a mortgage.
Enquiries and report
We will write to you with a report on the documentation which is received from the seller’s solicitor together with the search results. If you have any questions relating to anything which is sent to you then we will answer these for you.
At the same time, we will raise any necessary enquiries with the seller’s solicitor relating to the same documentation.
Signing the contract and exchanging contracts
Once the enquiries have been answered you will be sent the contract, often together with the Land Registry transfer, for signing. Although you are not legally committed to the sale of the property until after contracts have been exchanged, you should be sure that you are happy to proceed when you return the signed contract.
You will need to agree a completion date with the seller, often with the assistance of the estate agent. Completion dates are usually set 1-2 weeks after exchange of contracts because mortgage lenders typically need 5 working days to provide the funds. Depending on the individual transaction you may be able to exchange and complete within a smaller timescale which can be discussed.
Exchange of Contract is the moment that you become legally bound to sell the property on the terms contained in the contract. Until then, you or the buyer can withdraw from the sale without any penalty. You must arrange your buildings insurance to be in place from exchange of contracts.
Completion
On the day of completion we will send the completion monies to the sellers solicitor and you will be able to collect the keys once they have received the same. This is usually around 1pm.
Time scales
A typical transaction will take approximately 8 weeks for a freehold property and 10 weeks for a leasehold property . However, the following factors may increase the time until exchange of contracts:
- Whether the property is freehold or leasehold
- Number of parties in the chain
- Whether you have a mortgage in place
- Whether the searches flag up any issues
- Whether your survey shows up any issues
- Any enquiries which we raise Whether a lease extension is required for a leasehold property
