From instructing your conveyancer early, to thinking ahead about potential issues, The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) explains how you can help speed the up the home selling process…
Instructing your conveyancing lawyer as soon as possible can help with cutting down the length of time the home buying and selling process takes, reduce stress and increase the likelihood that your transaction will go through smoothly. That’s why at The Home Buying and Selling Group we recommend starting the process of instructing your solicitor or conveyancer as soon as your property is listed for sale.
Moving home is ranked as one of the most stressful life events and the average transaction in England and Wales takes 22 weeks which can put many people off. The process can be faster or slower depending on the complexity of the transaction and the efficiency of the parties involved, so to help improve efficiency, kicking off the conveyancing process on day one of marketing can be a good idea.
There are lots of reasons to get ahead with this. Firstly, the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has reported that hundreds of millions of pounds is lost every year in fall-throughs, on average around £1,500 to someone buying and selling. The good news is that this can be avoided by getting ready as soon as possible so you can have the support of your agent and conveyancer throughout the process.
The longer a transaction lasts, the greater the chance of it potentially falling through. During the average 22 week period, each element of the chain of transactions doesn’t know whether the whole chain is complete and how the transaction is progressing. While things are uncertain, you and the other home movers can’t get other things organised such as booking a holiday, or buying furniture until the transaction is confirmed and complete, so getting organised to help things move as efficiently as possible is always worthwhile.
Residential property transactions fall through for many different reasons but some occur because sellers don’t know that they have a defect in title for example, resulting in buyers submitting their mortgage applications to lenders who will not accept the property; but issues like this can be avoided and buyers can pick the right lender if they know the Material Information upfront.
Appointing a conveyancer once your home is on the market means they can start to prepare a Property Pack and all the information a buyer would need which will save time later on.
As well as preparing the Property Pack, your conveyancing lawyer can gather all the information required for the sale and identify anything that can be fixed with the title to save time later. As the seller, make sure that your chosen conveyancing lawyer will start to prepare this information including the property searches such as the Local Authority Search, Drainage and Water and environmental searches. By doing this, things will be able to move more efficiently as they can check what paperwork you might need to dig out for alterations or consents and then, when a buyer is found, this information can be shared, and your conveyancing lawyer can provide the upfront information to the buyer’s conveyancing lawyer.
Being aware of, and acting on, any potential queries early on can also take time off the transaction time because these queries can be dealt with sooner rather than later to avoid a rush after a buyer is found.
Being aware of potential queries or issues can also help transparency and certainty to be delivered to all stakeholders in the home moving process. For example the buyer’s mortgage adviser will be able to apply to the right lender and they’ll provide their surveyor with the information up front to speed up the process and prevent additional questions late in the process.
If you’re buying as well as selling then your conveyancing lawyer can check out the property you’re hoping to buy and if you’re getting a mortgage, your mortgage adviser can check that the lender will lend on the property and that they’re happy for your conveyancing lawyer to act for them too.
With all of the above in mind, there’s no good reason not to start the conveyancing process on day one to help make your moving process as smooth and efficient as possible.
The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) are representatives from across the industry who are working together to find ways to improve the process for home movers when buying and selling their property.
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