The Eric Whitehead Partnership

Buying & Selling a Home

We’re here to help with your sale or purchase. As well as the sale of a main residence, we’re able to work on the sale of holiday homes, rental properties, or with first time buyers. As soon as you have agreed to buy or sell, contact us directly and we can begin working for you.

The pre-contract stage

Before you buy your new property we gather as much information as possible to ensure you have piece of mind that everything is just right for you. This is usually the most time consuming part of any residential purchase because we collect all of the information about the property to present to you prior to exchange of contracts so you can make an informed decision whether to go ahead.

We will usually be informed of the agreed price and the details of the vendor’s solicitors by the estate agent. The seller’s solicitors are given the same information and will then provide a contract pack to us. The pack will contain the contract, the legal title and information about the property. We check the legal aspects are in order and we may raise enquiries about the title deeds, the plan of the property and any practical elements such as boundaries or works that may have taken place over time. We may ask questions about any information the seller has provided and will look in detail at any ancillary documentation provided such as heating installation or planning permissions. The nature of any enquiries raised are specific to the property you are buying so there may only be a few, or they may be extensive. Either way we usually send information to you at this stage so you are fully aware of what we have found and you can raise any queries you may have.

If we are acting for your in the sale of your property, we will prepare the contract pack to send to the buyer’s solicitor so it is really useful if you provide all of the documentation you have for the property in advance. We will work with you to answer any enquiries they may raise and provide them with replies.

Searches & Surveys
All our clients purchasing a property will have a standard set of searches submitted and reviewed by us which will provide information about different aspects of the property, plus others that are specific to the property you are buying. You have the option to have further searches carried out at any point prior to exchange of contracts. Our Search Information sheet gives you further detail as to what each search will reveal.
Any searches that we conduct are completely independent of any survey you may have carried out. It is vital that you are happy with the state and condition of the property you are buying, so you should ensure a qualified surveyor carries out a homebuyer’s survey on your behalf. It will provide a lot more detail than a basic survey provided by your mortgage lender and has a section in it for us to review, you can also discuss with us anything it has revealed that you would like us to raise with the seller’s solicitor.

If we are dealing with the sale of your property we will work with you to reply the buyer’s enquiries resulting from their search results and survey. You may be asked to provide further documentation at this stage and if you don’t have copies of any historical documentation we will try to obtain it on your behalf.

Mortgages
If you are using a mortgage to fund your purchase, we also act on behalf of your mortgage lender. They will have a standard set of requirements, such as having searches carried out, but they may also have special conditions in your mortgage offer that we must adhere to before we can request any funds from them. We will draw your attention to these and ensure you are happy with their terms and conditions prior to proceeding with your purchase.
If you are selling your property, we will write to your current mortgage lender and obtain a settlement figure so that we can repay your mortgage on completion of your sale or deal with porting the mortgage.
Throughout the pre contract stage we will keep any estate agent or financial advisor involved in the process up to date on your behalf.
More importantly we will regularly update you and your e-conveyancing access portal will allow you to track our progress anytime of the day and you are also welcome to telephone us or come into the office and discuss your case.

Exchange of contracts
Once we have completed the pre contract stage we will prepare a report for you of all of our findings and, if you like, we can make an appointment to discuss it in more detail. Providing you are happy to go ahead we will arrange for you to sign the contract, pay your deposit and agree a completion date with the sellers.
We will then exchange which makes everything legally binding.

Pre Completion
Prior to completion we will request any balance due from you that we need to complete your purchase and request your mortgage funds from your mortgage lender. We will provide you with a completion statement showing you the breakdown of all fees and disbursements.
We also carry out pre completion searches with the Land Registry to ensure nothing has changed on the legal title.

Completion
On the day of completion we send the funds to the seller’s solicitor. They will forward their client’s signed Transfer Deed that we will use to register you as the new owners of the property. The keys will usually be available from the estate agent although occasionally you may arrange this with the seller direct. We will stay in contact with you throughout the day and let you know once you can get the keys to your new property.

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 10 – 12 weeks. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle, it could take 4 – 6 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer and additional charges may apply.

Remortgaging

You may decide to remortgage your home because your current mortgage deal is coming to and end or you might be releasing equity in your property. No matter the reason, you will need a solicitor to carry out the legal work for you.
We will repay your existing mortgage and secure the new mortgage over your property, acting on behalf of you and your new lender. We will check your new mortgage offer and advise if your lender has any special requirements. We can also tie in any related transactions such as purchases and transfers of equity.
It is important before you remortgage that you check with your existing mortgage lender when your current mortgage product expires, so you don’t incur any early repayment charges and that you maintain payments until your new lender has confirmed your new mortgage is in place.

Transfer of Equity
You may own a property and want to add or remove another person to your title deeds, there are many reasons why a transfer of equity may occur and we are here to help you in any set of circumstances.
If you are transferring the equity in your property and have a mortgage, you must gain their consent for either adding or removing any party prior to instructing a solicitor. Once they have given you the go ahead you can contact us to take care of the legal aspects.
We will draft the necessary documents to transfer the equity and will comply with any requirements imposed by your mortgage lender. If the transfer is related to matrimonial proceedings, we can liaise with your matrimonial solicitor to ensure it completes at the right time.
You may wish to consider a Declaration of Trust at any point during a Transfer of Equity in the event you are adding another person to your property, you might want this agreement to set out your relevant shares in the property from the outset.

If you require help from our team of experts, get in touch with our Conveyancing department on 01538 755761, or email clientcare@ericwhitehead.co.uk