While you open up your home up for viewings and wait for the right buyer, selling your home can be a lengthy process. However, with a proactive, experienced agent in your corner, it shouldn’t be too long before you receive an offer worth celebrating.
But what happens once you agree a price with a buyer and the deal is done? Here’s what to expect after you’ve agreed a house sale.
Your buyer
Once you’ve verbally accepted an offer on your home, one of the first things we’ll do as your agent is to make sure that your prospective buyer can fulfill their financial commitment and is in a position to proceed. This involves checking that they have the funds or a mortgage agreement in principle ready to go and, if they are also selling a property, to make sure they too have a buyer who’s ready to move forward. To do this, we thoroughly check out any associated sales and speak to all of the other estate agents involved, ensuring that the chain is closed and that the financial affordability of all buyers has been confirmed.
We’ll also do all we can to ensure the sale happens within the timeframe you would like. Bearing in mind a typical sale can take between ten and twelve weeks to go through, it’s worth remembering that every case is different, particularly when a chain is involved.
Conveyancing
Conveyancing literally means the ‘act of transfer of title to property from one person to another’, and it’s where much of the official documentation associated with property trading comes in. We know from experience that a good deal of the stress involved with selling your home can occur once the deal has been agreed and you’re waiting for paperwork. That’s why we’ll keep you well-informed of your sale’s progression so you know everything’s moving in the right direction, and with momentum.
Firstly, we’ll issue a Memorandum of Sale recording the agreed price for both parties. By this stage, you will need to have selected a solicitor or conveyancer to work on your behalf, and we’ll work with them to push towards an exchange of contracts and subsequent completion.
Your solicitor or conveyancer will look at all the deeds and documents associated with your property alongside your buyer’s solicitor, answering any queries your buyer’s solicitor may raise to do with the house. This could be anything from work that has been carried out, making sure insurance policies are in place where relevant, to understanding the true boundaries and any quirks about the land or house. It helps to keep all invoices and guarantees somewhere safe and easy to find for this process to go as smoothly as possible. The more prepared you can be with all this information, the faster your sale will go through!
Then, your solicitor will send you a form to record all the fixtures and fittings in your home so you can make clear to your buyer what will stay and what you’ll take with you. They’ll issue a draft contract to your buyer’s solicitor and in the meantime your buyer will be busy arranging their mortgage or getting their finances ready to go.
Your buyer’s solicitor will also conduct searches, such as local authority, water and drainage, to make sure everything is in order with your home.
Surveying
Your buyer may want to undertake a survey of your home once the sale has been agreed in principle, just for their own peace of mind. We will arrange this with them at a time to suit you. During a survey, a Chartered Surveyor will inspect your property to make sure there are no underlying issues that may not be immediately obvious.
Exchanging contracts
Once both sides are happy that all queries have been answered satisfactorily, a final contract will be drawn up to be signed by both you and your buyer. The moment signed contracts are exchanged, the sale becomes legally binding and the buyer will pay a deposit of between 5% to 10% of the total agreed price. The contracts will literally be exchanged between the buyer and seller and the date of completion (when the keys are handed over) will be agreed. This is when it gets really exciting, you’ve just officially sold your house!
Completion
Once contracts are exchanged, we’ll be working hard with your solicitor or conveyancer to complete the legal process of transferring ownership of the property. The keys will then be handed over, any monies due will be paid, and your sale will be complete!
Here at Michael Hardy, we have been successfully selling homes since 1985, with many customers coming back time and time again. One of the biggest reasons our clients return to us and recommend us to friends and family is because of our in-house sales progression at both our branches. Our Managing Director, Neal Mackenzie and our Sales Manager, Ben Biggs sit at the back of our sales office in Wokingham, working tirelessly to nudge and push sales along through to completion and similarly in our Crowthorne office, our Branch Manager Ian Roach is on hand to answer any sales progression queries you may have.
From the moment you put your property on the market with us, our experienced team of professionals will guide you step-by-step through the sales process, so you know exactly what to expect from what may well be one of the biggest transactions you’ll ever make. For more information and help selling your home, get in touch with us today.