Fonseca Law Solicitors

Email: enquiries@fonsecalaw.co.uk

Tel: 01495 303124

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Fees for the Sale of a Residential Property

Our fees cover all anticipated work for a usual sale to complete transaction, including obtaining land registry documents, preparation of the contract pack, redemption of a mortgage, payment of the Estate Agents fee (if any) and distribution of sale proceeds.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Disbursements include the following (including VAT):

  • Anti-Money Laundering ID Search Fee (each): £3.60
  • Office Copy entries (per title): £6.00
  • Bank Fee (per transfer): £35.00
  • Index Map Search (unregistered property): £4.00
  • Land Charges Search Fee (unregistered property) (per name): £2.00
  • Leasehold Disbursements (approx) – see below
    Freeholder and/or Management Company Sales Pack: £100.00 – £500.00

Leasehold Properties

If your Property is leasehold, we will need to obtain Sales pack from the Freeholder and/or Management Company which will provide necessary information to the Buyer's Solicitors in order to report to their clients on what matters affect the property. The costs for such packs vary considerably between freeholders and management companies. We shall advise you of this cost upon receiving confirmation from the Freeholder and/or Management Company at which point you will be asked to make payment to us on account of the same so we can request the pack.

How long will the process take?

The length of time it will take from your acceptance of the Buyer's offer until completion of the sale will depend on a number of factors. The national average process takes between 10-12 weeks.

It can be shorter or longer, depending on factors such as, but by no means exclusively:

  • the number of parties in the chain and their respective circumstances,
  • if the property is Leasehold or freehold,
  • there be a title defect and the time it takes to deal with the defect,
  • mortgage funding,
  • surveys,
  • searches,
  • new builds.

We shall keep you informed throughout the process and where necessary ask the assistance of your selling agent to progress matters.

Stages of the process

All transactions are individual but the following is an example of timescales for the different stages of the process (please note the weekly timeline is a guide only):

Instructions (Weeks 1- 2)

  • We receive your instructions to act on your behalf;
  • Our Client Care Pack is sent out to you, confirming our Costs and Terms of Business, for you to consider, sign and return the documents along with initial monies on account and your I.D. and your completed Seller's Protocol Forms (these are standard documents providing information to the buyer and are supplied in almost all sales);
  • We obtain from you your proof of identity and carry out our anti-money laundering checks;
  • We carry out conflict of interest checks against all parties to the transaction;
  • We receive Sales Particulars from the Estate Agents (if involved) and confirm to the Buyer's Solicitors that we act for you.

Deduction of Title (2-3 weeks)

  • We obtain evidence of your ownership of the Property from Land Registry (or the Deeds holder if unregistered property);
  • We prepare the Contract Pack and issue to the Buyer's Solicitors;
  • If Leasehold, we take steps to request the Sales Pack/s from the Freeholder and/or Management Company and forward to the Buyer's Solicitor once received these can often take several weeks to be received;
  • We request an initial redemption statement from your mortgage Lender (if any);

Investigation of title by buyers (3-7 weeks)

  • The Buyer's Solicitors raises enquiries (if any) after they review the Contract Pack.
  • The Buyer's Solicitors requests searches (raising additional enquiries upon receipt of the results) and obtains the Buyer's mortgage offer depending on the type of searches requested they can take up to 4 weeks to arrive;
  • We liaise with you to satisfy the purchaser's enquiries raised (if any).
  • We forward to you the approved Contract and Transfer Deed for signature;

Pre-Exchange – Exchange of Contracts (Week 7-9)

  • We agree with the Buyer's Solicitors a Completion Date (date when the property is legally transferred to the Buyer);
  • We obtain a final redemption statement from your mortgage Lender and Invoice of fees from your Estate Agents (if any);
  • We provide you with our Completion Statement detailing the amount due back to or due from you to complete the transaction.
  • After obtaining your Authority to Exchange, we exchange Contracts with the Buyer's Solicitors (legally binding both Buyer and Seller to the Contract and to complete on the agreed Completion Day) and notify you that this has happened.

Post-Exchange – Completion (Weeks 10-11)

  • Replies to the Buyer's Completion Information is sent to the Buyer's Solicitors;
  • On Completion Day, we receive the sale monies from the Buyer's Solicitors to complete and confirm to them accordingly;
  • Keys are handed over to the purchaser via the Estate Agents (if any) or as per alternative arrangements as agreed with you;
  • We redeem your mortgage, pay the Estate Agents (if any) and any sums owing to the Freeholder/Management Company (if Leasehold);
  • The net proceeds of sale are sent to you (or any related transaction) after deduction of mortgage, Estate Agents fees, legal fees and disbursements.

Post-Completion

  • We provide the transfer and completion documentation to your Buyer's solicitor.
  • We discharge your mortgage and provide the evidence to your Buyer's solicitor.