FAQS

What is conveyancing?

A simple definition of conveyancing is the transfer of ownership or property rights from one individual to another.

What happens once I select an NLA Conveyancing solicitor?

Once you have chosen your Solicitor and instructed them to act for you, you can expect to hear from them within 7 working days. They will write to you to acknowledge your instructions and send you the Terms of Business letter and 'Guide to Buying and Selling'. At this stage, a team will be allocated to deal with your case and you will be given a direct dial telephone number to contact them. Any member of the team will be able to help you with your enquiries throughout the transaction.

The Solicitor will also write to the estate agent and the seller's solicitors as soon as they know who they are, requesting contract documentation. The Solicitor is just as keen as you are to complete your transaction quickly, so will apply for searches on your property next. At this stage a combined local and environmental search will be carried out. This searches the Council's register as to any restrictions within the boundaries of your new property.

What is contract documentation?

The seller's solicitors have to provide your Solicitor with legal details of the property. The main document is the contract. This is prepared by the sellers' solicitors and sets out the terms of what has been agreed (i.e. price, names of people involved). There are also other documents which the seller's solicitors need to send regarding planning permission, rights of way and other important matters. Quite often there will be a need to raise additional questions about these prior to exchange.

I've received my mortgage offer, what happens now?

The Solicitor will normally receive a copy of your mortgage offer a day or so after you and will now write again to the other side to request contracts if they have not already sent these.

Provided they have received:

• The results of the searches,
• Copy of the mortgage offer
• Contract papers from the sellers solicitors

Your file will be passed to a title examiner who will check the title, raise any further enquiries and apply for any specialist searches required (for example, a mining search or water search) and prepare a report for you.

Once you receive your report PLEASE READ ALL DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY before you sign them. In some circumstances you will need to have your signature witnessed. Occasionally this will need to be witnessed by another solicitor, but normally documents can be witnessed by someone over the age of 18 who is NOT a member of your family and who does not have an interest in the transaction. The Solicitor will clearly indicate to you who needs to sign and where.

You should send all documents and your identification back to your Solicitor by special delivery. Your identification will be checked and returned to you by Special Delivery.

When will you exchange contracts?

Once your Solicitor is entirely satisfied that all queries have been answered and all conditions have been met, they can move onto exchanging contracts. By this time you should have returned the contract and this is 'exchanged' with the other side. Once contracts are exchanged, both sides are legally committed to go ahead. Your Solicitor will not allow you to exchange until they have ensured that the title to the land is guaranteed and that there can be no dispute as to the ownership. Exchange is legally binding and neither party can back out without suffering loss.

How long will the whole process take?

There are a variety of factors affecting the timescale of these transactions. For example, how quickly the other side solicitors respond to enquiries, results of searches, and how quickly the other parties involved can arrange their finances. Obviously if there is a chain with many sellers and buyers totally dependent on each other, delays can occur. On average though, it is likely to take between 9-12 weeks, No two transactions are the same so it is impossible to be specific about how long the process will take. Often unnecessary delays can occur if signed documents, building insurance information and existing lender information is not returned at the earliest opportunity.

Why is there a difference between freehold and leasehold properties?

 If you are buying a leasehold property, you will see, an amount called 'leasehold expenses' on your completion statement. This amount is intended to prevent delays in completion and cover any unexpected charges by the landlord, such as service charges or ground rent. Any unused part of this money will be paid back to you within three months after completion. There may also be extra fees in leasehold cases if the case becomes more complicated than anticipated.

In order to ensure that the property has a good and marketable title there are additional enquiries to make in these cases and you should be aware that the purchase of a leasehold property does usually take longer to deal with than the purchase of a freehold property.

It is the responsibility of the Seller's solicitor to provide sufficient information to enable your Solicitor to deal with their questions, but they may be dependent on others such as a landlord or Management Company to supply information to them before passing it on. The longer it takes the Seller's solicitor to supply this information, the longer the transaction will take.

I'm selling my property, how is the process different?

If you are selling, your Solicitor will need to prepare a seller's pack. To do this they will need the name, address and account number of your existing lender or, if you do not have a mortgage, details of where the deeds are being kept. They will then request the deeds to your property and prepare the contract to send to the buyer's solicitors.

At this stage, they will report to you and send some forms which need to be completed and returned. Once they receive the deeds and signed documents, they can then issue a contract and respond to any questions that the buyer's solicitor may raise. They will then send you your part of the contract for signature .When a completion date has been agreed they will write to your existing lender and request a redemption statement; this states how much is required to pay off your existing mortgage. A transfer of your property is prepared by the buyer's solicitor and this will also be sent to you for signature. As soon as the buyers' solicitors are ready, exchange can take place and a completion date can be agreed. If you are selling AND buying, then you will need to exchange on both transactions at the same time so that you are not left without a home or with two!

What is happening when I don’t hear from my solicitor?

As the case develops there may be other matters that need to be brought to your attention and there may be periods when nothing seems to be happening - don't worry your Solicitor is doing what they can but sometimes legal matters take longer than you expect.

They will keep you informed on a regular basis as to what is happening (even if nothing happened since the last time!) but don't worry about phoning if you want to - it won't cost you extra!

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