Top Tips when selling your house

Selling your house can be a complicated process along with it being stressful trying to plan the whole move. Our Johnson Astills conveyancing specialists are here to make the transaction as smooth as possible.

Below are a few steps that will hopefully make the process that little bit easier and help us complete the transactions that little bit quicker.

Complete all protocol forms:

Completing the protocol forms:-

Property information form- this asks questions about the property such as who owns the boundaries, if there have been any additions to the property like extensions, if planning permission and building regulation approvals were needed

Fixture and fitting forms- This confirms which items that you will be leaving at or taking from the property on completion. You may also use this form to offer any items for sale for example any whitegoods, curtains/blinds, Mirrors, Etc.

Leasehold property information form- If the property is leasehold, this form will outline all the relevant information in respect of it. You will be required to confirm any ground rent and service charge you pay. Confirm all the details of any management companies/agents that are involved such as their contact details.

This will ensure the buyers receive some information about the property being sold. If you do not know the answer, simply put not known. Any questions, which are left unanswered, will always be asked to be clarified by the buyer’s solicitors. Ensuring all the questions are answered from the beginning will help in minimising enquires that are raised during the conveyancing transaction.

Identification documents:

By providing all the relevant Identification documents from the outset, your Johnson Astills Conveyancing Solicitor will be able to carry out the relevant Identification procedures. If there is a mortgage on your property, please provide us with the details of the mortgage (Mortgage Account Number and the amount remaining on the mortgage). This will help us confirm you have the right to sell the property and we can obtain the correct figure for the mortgage redemption.

Relevant Documents regarding the property:

If you hold any documents for your property- (warranties, guarantees, service records, Building regulations, planning permissions, etc.) ensure to hand these to your Johnson Astills Conveyancing Solicitor, who are dealing with the sale of your property. This will save us time in having to contact the council or any relevant parties when dealing with enquires. If you have service records for the boiler, then hand these over to us.

* A very common enquiry from a buyer is to have the boiler/heating serviced by the seller and provide the latest report.

Please note there is no legal obligation on the seller to provide the latest service report to the buyer. *

Bank Details for sale proceeds:

Provide your solicitor the details of your bank details of the nominated bank account where you wish to receive the sale proceeds. You will also need to provide a bank statement for that account to verify the bank account belongs to you. Your bank details will be asked to be provided in writing with your signature authorising the details for the transfer.

Clearing your Property:

Once a date for completion has been agreed, please ensure the property is cleared in readiness of the agreed date. Once the date is being suggested, it may be a good time to start making enquires with removal companies for their availability on the day.

 *Please note not to book or make any arrangements until you have actually exchanged contracts. We will confirm to you once it is safe to make arrangements.*

Remember to take meter readings when you move out the property.

You may wish to re-direct any post after you move out of the property.

Contacting your solicitor:

As selling your home can be a stressful experience, you may want to know what is happening with the sale as much as possible. Our advice here is to ask for updates from us but do not bombard us with emails and calls on a daily basis. When selling your home there are several factors that determine how quick the conveyancing transaction will be which we can be out of our control. We will always keep you updated with the relevant updates that you require as soon as we hear any further.

Our Conveyancing team at Johnson Astills can assist you in your sale and purchase transactions and provide you with further information regarding any conveyancing queries. Please contact us at our Leicester Office or Loughborough Office on 0800 059 0600.