Buying a Property

We understand at Vincents Solicitors how stressful moving home can be whether this is your first purchase or you’ve moved many times before.

We will take you through the process step by step, we don’t use legal jargon and we pride ourselves on our commitment to client interaction throughout the process. We adopt a proactive approach to ensure the transaction proceeds as quickly as possible for you.

We are often asked how long will the transaction take, the truth is we cannot say from the outset but with each step we will have a clearer picture about when you are likely to receive your keys.  An average transaction can be anywhere from 6-10 weeks depending upon the length of the chain, whether the property is leasehold or freehold, whether there are mortgages involved etc. The only things we ask of you are to keep us informed of any changes to your circumstances, ensure that anything we ask you to deal with is done promptly and you alert us to any conversations you may have with any other party in the chain.

What is the legal process when buying a property?

The basic steps of a purchase transaction are as follows:

• You will need to ensure that your financial arrangements are in place, if you require a mortgage this will need to be agreed in principal before you make an offer for the property.
• Once an offer is made and accepted you will need to notify your lender (if you have one) and they will instruct the survey/valuation. You will then need to appoint us to act on your behalf and we will require search fees, identification documents and completed forms. The seller will also appoint their Solicitor at this time.
• In order to move things along we will need to receive from the Contract pack from the seller’s Solicitor. This will be reviewed, we will report to you on the contents of the pack, we will request searches and we will raise our enquiries with them. The review is not always a straight forward process and can often involve the review of complex legal documents.
• You will be asked to sign a contract and we will make enquiries with you about any funds you are using to purchase the property. Although these questions may seem a little personal we do need to ask. We may require bank statements and information relating to any recent large deposits into your bank account.
• Upon receipt of the search results and replies we will provide a further report to you.
• If you have applied for a mortgage we would also expect to receive this during this time.
• When we are satisfied with the replies to enquiries, the searches, the documentation relating to funds from you, and we hold your deposit and signed contract, we can progress to exchange.
• A date will need to be agreed in advance of exchange, the purpose of exchange is to commit you to the date that you will move. After exchange if either the seller or buyer pull out there will be financial penalties. The deposit will be transferred to the seller’s Solicitor immediately after exchange.
• Between exchange and completion we will carry out a number of tasks. We will order funds from your lender if a mortgage is involved and we will also provide you with a statement setting out the balance (if any) required from you (this will include any stamp duty payable and our costs). It is at the point of exchange that you will need to put in place your buildings insurance.
• On the day of completion we will transfer all the remaining funds to the seller’s Solicitor and when this is received the property is legally yours and keys will be released to you.
• After completion we will deal with the stamp duty payment and we will register you as the new owner with the Land Registry. This process may take several weeks, sometimes months. As soon as we receive the confirmation from the Land Registry that you are the new owner we will forward this, together with any deeds and documents relating to the property over to you.

If you would like more information please do get in touch, we are more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Please call or click here to email us.
Please note that we have offices across the north west, if you would prefer to deal with an office nearer to you then please let us know.