Property Sales Guide

First, speak with your lender to see if you can take your mortgage to a new property, or if you will have to pay any early repayment charges for switching mortgages or to another lender. You should also look around for a better mortgage deal if you are moving to a more expensive property.

The estate agent you use will make a big difference to your overall experience, so it’s important to find a reputable, reliable firm in the local area that can make the process as stress-free as possible. Of course, we think Truepenny’s will fit those criteria perfectly for you.

Using a local firm like us gives you the benefit of support from professionals who have sold similar properties in the area and will be able to attract the sort of buyers you need. Ask all the questions you need about the services provided, especially the marketing strategies and methods that will be used to advertise the property.

Once you start working with us, we’ll book a valuation to get an idea of the property’s financial potential. The agent can then help you set a realistic and fair sale price (although you always have the final say) that can ensure you sell the property quickly while earning a good profit.

When selling a property, you are required by law to get an energy performance certificate (EPC) which will show the buyer the energy efficiency ranking of the property. You’ll need to do this before listing your property and you can find an independent EPC surveyor through the Government website.

Staging your home will make it easier to attract potential buyers and could also increase its sale price. This is something we can help with, setting up each room so the layout is optimised to make a strong impression as people walk around the house.

You will also need to check if anything on the property needs fixing or smartening up before you open the doors for house viewings. This means repairing any broken fixtures and fittings and fixing existing structural issues. Freshen up the place with a coat of paint, remove clutter and tidy the front and back of the house. Good kerb appeal will go a long way to setting the right tone with buyers.

Give people space as they view the property and avoid crowding them out. They’ll prefer to tour at their leisure and raise any points and questions when needed. If the house has been prepared to a good standard, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about in terms of presentation. In the short space of time they are in the property, buyers are trying to imagine what it would be like to live there, so they need time and distance to do that.

When working with Truepenny’s, any offer received will be put forward to you verbally at the first available opportunity, and in writing within twenty-four hours. You will need to make a response to any offer. If the initial offer is rejected and the purchaser decides to increase their offer, the process will simply be repeated.

We will make all best endeavours to qualify purchasers in advance of any viewings - but at the very latest, at offer time. By "qualify" we mean that we will formally check their status and ability to proceed with any offer they make. For us to do this, we will ask for contact details of their broker or mortgage lender, and any estate agent dealing with their current property sale.

You will need instruct a solicitor/conveyancer to act for you in the sale. It is only when this information has been provided and we have contacted the necessary parties for verification of your purchasers' situation that we will consider whether it would be pertinent to stop showing your property to other prospective purchasers.

It is at this stage that we will try to make you aware of any chain implications and the likely timescale of any agreed transaction. Due to the nature of the buying process, it is important to note and understand that any information provided by us concerning the transaction chain is not guaranteed and could change at any time. However, regular liaison will be made with legal parties acting on both you and your buyer’s behalf to ensure we can keep you abreast of progress on a timely basis.

Once you have accepted an offer the legal process starts to arrange for contracts to be drawn up and agreed, to confirm payment is made for your property, and that legal title is properly transferred to your buyer.

To support these activities, you (and your buyer) will need to instruct a solicitor or conveyancer to do this work on your behalf.

The choice of who will act for you is entirely at your discretion but to help you with this, we promote a range of different and very competitive conveyancing options. Please contact us for further information.

Summary of the legal process

In summary, the overall legal process to exchange and complete contracts with your buyer generally takes the following steps:

1. Terms are agreed between Seller and Buyer and both parties instruct their conveyancer to work for them.
2. The Seller's conveyancer obtains the Seller's title deed and prepares the draft Contract for the Buyer's conveyancer to approve
3. The Seller's conveyancer sends to the Buyers conveyancer the draft Contract together with rest of the documentation needed to form the overall contractual package.
4. The Buyer's conveyancer reviews the detailed terms of the Contract, does the 'Searches', and reviews the results, confirms that there is a Mortgage Offer in place, and also checks the readiness of any dependent sale (in the same chain) to proceed.
5. Contracts are then signed and exchanged at which time a Completion Date is agreed between both parties.
6. The Transfer Deed is prepared by the Buyer's conveyancer and approved by the Seller's conveyancer, and then signed in readiness for the Completion Date.
7. The Buyer's conveyancer obtains the funds for the purchase from the Buyer - either directly, or through the sale of his/her previous property - and the lender (if there is a Mortgage)
8. On the Completion Date the Buyer's conveyancer sends the required funds to the Seller's conveyancer (on behalf of the Seller). When receipt of these funds is confirmed by the Sellers conveyancer, the purchase is deemed compete and the Buyer can take legal occupation.
9. The Buyer's conveyancer pays any Stamp Duty due, and registers the Buyer as the new owner of the property at the Land Registry

Our advice: The time it takes to progress through this stage is dependent on various factors - but the entire process could take at least 6-8 weeks. However, to speed up the process from your end, we recommend you instruct legal representation prior to finding a buyer as there are various things they can do well in advance, and hence save time later. This includes calling for your title deeds office copy entries and various other documents - all of which can take some time to get hold of. It’s worth completing various documents in advance - such as the 'Sellers Property Information Form' and 'Fixture Fittings and Contents' declaration - as these will also help speed up things later.

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