Conveyancing And The House Buying Process
Conveyancing is the process of legally transferring ownership of a property from one party to another. A portion of this process involves legal transactions and helps ensure, in particular, that the buyer will take receipt of the type of property that they were expecting. Conveyancing is necessary in the buying and selling of any property. For the buyer, a conveyancer will check that all legal requirements are upheld and that the property details, mortgage offer details, and contract detail match appropriately.
The First Stages
The early stages of conveyancing involve you and your conveyancer. You will need to sign and return a Letter of Engagement that entitles the solicitor or conveyancer to work on your behalf. Once this is completed, they will then attain a copy of the draft contract including title information and numerous forms.
Checking Documentation
The conveyancer will then study the documents and ask any questions of the seller’s solicitor. Once this process is completed you will be presented with a copy of the details and asked to confirm that everything is as you expected.
The lender should send a copy of your mortgage offer to your conveyancer. They will reference the terms of this to the property documents to further ensure that everything matches. Most solicitors will also assist the lender in order to facilitate a speedier conveyancing process.
Contract Exchange
Once everything has been checked, you will need to sign the contract as well as your mortgage offer. Details regarding a deposit will be provided so that you can submit this deposit before the contracts are exchanged. A completion date will then be agreed by all parties and the exchange will take place.
Completion
On completion, your conveyancing solicitor will then finalise all the contracts, ensure that they are stamped for legal authorisation and provide the original of the deeds to your lender.