Domestic Conveyancing
Conveyancing is one of several areas of the law for which Pearson Caulfield has specialist teams. When you use our services you will be dealing with a specialist Property Lawyer who specialises in this type of work and has built up an expert knowledge through experience as well as training.
What is Conveyancing?
Conveyancing
is the term used within the legal profession to describe the process
whereby the ownership of a house or other property is 'conveyed' from
one party to another.
To carry out this transaction you need a
trusted person with expert knowledge and your personal interests at
heart. In short you need a good solicitor.
For most of us, a house is the highest priced item we will ever buy - a
key investment which we cannot afford to go wrong - yet it is also a
transaction with many potential pitfalls. It is crucial, that this work
is done thoroughly, by people who really know what they are doing.
The work involved if you are buying...
Our
task as solicitors is to take care of all the organisational and
administrative work, to make sure that there is no doubt what land,
property and other rights you are paying for, and see you become the
new legal owner as smoothly as possible.
We check the draft
Contract of Sale (prepared by the seller's solicitor) and confirm that
it accurately describes all the property to be conveyed, including any
specific fixtures, fittings, etc.
We check with the Local Authority to see whether there are any future
public works such as road building which might affect the property,
whether there are any planning restrictions, whether the property is a
listed building. This sort of information might not always affect your
decision to buy, but it might affect the price you are prepared to pay.
Similarly, we check to see that the land the house is built on or its
garden is not affected by any disputes over such issues as boundaries,
fences, rights of light, road charges or rights of way. If it is, we
make sure you know about them before you commit yourself.
We prepare the transfer, check the mortgage documents, if any, and deal
with general searches. We will then organise the entire transaction,
liaise with the other solicitors to agree on target dates for exchange
and completion. We see the whole process through until, at last, you
are given the keys to your new home.
Even then, our work is not quite done. We still have to handle the registration of your ownership with the Land Registry.
If you are Selling
We
will work with you to define exactly what to include in the selling
price (house, land, fixtures, fittings, furniture, garden contents,
etc).
It will be our job to draw up the Contract of Sale, send
it to the buyer's solicitor, handle any queries on your behalf, and
liaise with the buyer's solicitor over exchange of contracts and
completion. Plus of course, making sure you get the money on
completion.
We also become the 'Cashier' for the whole transaction
If
you are the buyer, we will make sure your mortgage money is obtained in
time to pay for the transaction. There may be a deposit to be funded by
you. If so we'll brief you thoroughly. However you choose to fund the
purchase, we will handle all the financial work for you, paying the
correct amounts to the seller's solicitor at the appropriate times.
If you are a seller, we will make provision for the correct money to
arrive on time. If there is a mortgage to be paid off, we will liaise
with the building society or bank to obtain a settlement figure and pay
them the amount required and pay the remaining balance immediately to
you.
If you are both buying and selling, there may be more than one mortgage
to pay off and another to arrange. We will still organise the entire
transaction, liaising between one or two lenders, yourself and the
various solicitors involved in the transactions. It can be quite a
complicated affair, but it's a role we're good at.
Exchange of Contracts
You will often hear the term 'exchange of contracts'. Basically, there are two copies of the Contract of Sale. The buyers sign one copy and the sellers sign the other. Then when all aspects are agreed the two copies are quite literally exchanged to make the transaction legally binding.
Completion Date
Not
to be confused with the date on which contracts are exchanged,
'Completion' is the date set and written into the contract, when the
transfer of ownership will actually take place and when the parties
actually move.
Usually it is a date decided on by discussion
between the parties involved a few weeks after exchange of contracts
(although sometimes earlier) to allow for final checking, for the
second signatures, and to make sure mortgage money or other funding
arrangements are all securely in place. Completion date is the day you
get the keys and move in or out.
Mortgages & Estate Agents
If you are buying, you can of course make your own choice of mortgage provider. We can work equally well with anyone you choose. This is a very competitive market, where there are many lenders offering different schemes at different rates, so it pays to shop around. But do let us know if you would appreciate a bit of expert and impartial advice in this area. Similarly, if you are selling, you will probably be using an estate agent (we know, because we deal with them regularly ourselves). So if you do need help choosing the right estate agent, we can recommend an estate agent to you.
How much will it cost?
Pearson
Caulfield offer competitive rates but our attentive and personal
service is why we get so much repeat business. When we have our initial
discussion with you and can see approximately what work will be
involved in your transaction, we will be able to give you an estimate
of our charges.
There is nothing we can do, of course, about
disbursements which buyers incur with every property transaction.
Search fees are incurred with the Local Authority, the Land Registry
and sometimes with other organisations.
Land registration fees are also payable, and Stamp Duty Land Tax will
be payable to the Government on most properties currently costing more
than £175,000.