You’ve accepted an offer on your home and you’ve seen your dream property with your local estate agent. It’s all coming together with a second viewing booked for this Saturday! You’re already mentally picking out curtain material and paint colours.
However, there is a lot of work to be done before you visit your local decorating store to pick up tins of paint. Our role as your conveyancer is to make sure that you are fully informed in regards to the property and feel confident in signing the paperwork and handing over your deposit.
Once we have received your instructions, we will send out the land registry title plan for you to review and confirm that the boundaries are accurate. It is crucial that it details the full extent of the property you are intending to buy. We will then raise legal enquiries on the land registry title with the seller’s solicitors, for example, checking all of the relevant rights of access are included and that there are no onerous obligations you have to comply with.
We will also review the supplementary information provided by the seller raising any additional enquiries on the documents supplied, such as the energy performance certificate, the relevant planning permissions, septic tank or drainage, Japanese knotweed, tree preservation orders and even what, if any, items are included or not with the purchase! We also order searches on the property, including the local authority and water search.
If the property is leasehold there are additional forms and information to check, such as ground rent and service charge payments per year and the lease provisions.
We view the process as collaborative and report out to you on each step of the way so that any issues can be dealt with as they arise. Your role is key in feeding back to us from your practical inspections of the property together with updates on your mortgage application and providing a copy of your survey.
In regards to your sale, this largely mirrors the process from the other side of the fence in that we will be answering the buyer’s solicitor’s questions and supplying them with as much information as possible for their clients.
Not at that stage yet but considering it?
If you are thinking of putting your property on the market, it is really useful to call and have a chat with us at the initial stage as being prepared can ensure the process runs smoothly. We are happy to review the deeds you have and work through any potential concerns with you in advance so that when you do secure a buyer, all you will need to worry about is choosing the all-important paint colours!
Jenny Cottrell
Porter Dodson LLP
