What should I expect from my solicitors when I buy a house?
By Michael Ogden, Senior Solicitor & Head of Property dept at GHP Legal, Wrexham office
Buying a property can be a daunting process, so handing over responsibility to a solicitor you can trust to handle the conveyancing will be a welcome relief. The conveyancing process itself takes many weeks and during that time you may feel helpless and frustrated. Knowing beforehand what to expect will help.
Conveyancing is a complex process requiring a thorough understanding of property law, a meticulous attention to detail and the ability to manage all parties involved, from buyers and sellers to mortgage providers, estate agents and surveyors and others. So, choosing a solicitor with a good, longstanding reputation is crucial to avoiding later legal issues or financial losses.
As soon as your offer on the property has been accepted you should ensure you have your mortgage offer in place. Then you can instruct a solicitor who will ask you to sign a contract with them. Many offer reasonably priced insurance to cover the cost of work they have done if the transaction should for some reason fall through.
After supplying requested information needed for the transaction, a draft contract will be drawn up by the vendor’s solicitor. This forms the basis of a legal agreement between seller and buyer and includes property details, agreed price, completion date and any other terms/conditions. After checking it thoroughly your solicitor will request any necessary changes.
Once the draft contract has been agreed, your solicitor will carry out conveyancing searches on the property, including local searches to uncover any planning and environment issues that could affect the property. On receiving responses, he or she will go through them and return to the seller’s solicitor with any queries. This process will continue until your solicitor is completely satisfied with all responses.
Your solicitor will then check the property details and go through with you the terms of the mortgage offer. Then you will be ready to sign the contract for exchanging, making the deal legally binding, and your solicitor will acquire the funds. Now you can move on to the final step of completion, which can if necessary be the same day but is more likely to be a week or two later.
