Residential Sales
Selling your home means transferring it to a new owner, clearing any mortgage and the costs tied to the sale, and passing the proceeds to you. We’ll handle the legal side of that and keep you updated as it moves along.
Our legal fees for a sale usually depend on the price of the property. Some sales are more complex and cost more; if yours is one of them, the lawyer dealing with it will tell you in writing before you commit. VAT is charged at 20%.
Some sales naturally cost more because of the extra work involved, including:
- Leasehold property
- Shared Ownership or First Homes Scheme property
Estimate the cost of your sale
Answer a few short questions and we will show you an approximate cost for selling your property, with no obligation.
Are there any hidden costs or disbursements?
We’ll always be upfront about our fees at the start. Disbursements aren’t always known at the outset. For example, you may need an indemnity policy to cover alterations to the property or a defect in the title, and the exact cost of that won’t be clear until later. The most common disbursement you can expect is for Land Registry documents.
What work is included?
Every sale is different, but our work usually includes:
- Obtaining the title documents, guarantees, planning permissions and the like, and completing the standard information provided on a sale
- Drafting the contract
- Sending the contract papers to the buyer’s lawyer
- Answering any questions (enquiries) they have about the property
- Agreeing the contract, arranging for it to be signed and exchanging contracts
- Gathering the financial information for the sale, including the amount needed to pay off any mortgage, and agreeing a financial statement with you
- Agreeing a transfer document and arranging for it to be signed
- Completing the sale, paying off any mortgage and passing on the proceeds
- Taking your instructions and keeping you updated on timescales
This is a simplified picture, and there’ll be other tasks along the way. If the property is leasehold or on a freehold managed estate, for instance, we’ll need an information pack from the landlord or management company and will deal with rent and service charge apportionments.
Is there anything not included?
Our costs cover the work usually needed to complete the sale of a home. Other parts of selling, such as arranging removals or marketing the property, aren’t included. If you need extra legal services (for example, reclaiming Stamp Duty Land Tax), we’ll charge for those separately. You can read about the other residential property services we offer on our Residential Conveyancing page.
How long will it take?
Plenty of things affect the speed, especially the chain of buyers and sellers. As a rough average, allow 12 to 16 weeks to exchange, with a week or two between exchange and completion, though that can be misleading. The shorter the chain, the quicker it’s likely to go, although other factors may delay a transaction. A lot depends on third parties too, including search providers, local authorities, mortgage brokers and lenders, surveyors, and the buyer and their lawyer.
You’ll always know what stage your sale is at, and what’s holding things up if it slows down.
Some sales are simple: a freehold house, no chain, a buyer ready to go. Others have more moving parts, like a leasehold flat that needs a management pack, or a sale running alongside your onward purchase. Whatever yours looks like, we’ll manage it.
If you’re not sure which of these fits your situation, call us, and we’ll point you in the right direction.
