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Moving Guide and Checklist
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"I was kept informed at every stage of the proceedings and a potential
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Maureen Winders,Chesham |
The Kingfishers Guide To Moving House
The Start of Your Sale
Contact us as soon as you are - proposing to put your property
on the market with an estate agent
- or when a buyer has been found
- or you are optimistic
that an offer will shortly be made
Kingfishers will commence your property sale
- We will review the proposed agreement
with your Estate Agent to ensure that you fully understand its legal implications
and to negotiate any changes on your behalf.
- We will apply for the title deeds
from the lender, to ensure that there is no delay in issuing a contract once negotiations
have been finalised
- We will give you a breakdown of the costs involved
- You
can complete a Sale Questionnaire and Fixtures and Fittings List to enable us to
issue the contract promptly
The sale process will usually follow these steps
- A draft contract will be issued to the buyers lawyers,
together with all the necessary supporting documents.
- When the contract has been
approved, we will ask you to sign this in readiness for exchange of contracts.
- When the buyers have received their local search and mortgage offer and their lawyer
is satisfied as to the title, we will negotiate a completion date which will not
normally be less than 10 working days from exchange, and the deposit. Contracts
can then be exchanged.
- On the day of completion, you must clear and vacate the
property by 12 noon, leaving the keys with the Estate Agents.
- We will redeem your
existing mortgage and settle the Estate Agents account
The Purchase of Your New Home
Your Deposit
When you
have agreed to purchase a property, the Estate Agent will normally require you to pay a deposit.
If this happens, an allowance will be made for this at completion. Please let us
know if you have paid such a deposit.
When you let us know you have found the
home of your dreams, we will ask you to complete a Purchase Questionnaire, the answers
to which will assist us in our enquiries.
We will also ask you for money on account,
so that we can carry out the preliminary searches.
When we receive the contract
from the seller's lawyer,
we will:-
(a) Approve the contract and title. We may feel
it necessary to raise additional enquiries of the sellers’ lawyer. When we are satisfied
that all is in order, we will return one copy of the contract to the sellers’ lawyers,
for signature in readiness for exchange of contracts
(b) On receipt of your mortgage
offer, (if applicable), we will apply for the Local Search, and any other searches
we consider appropriate.
If you require a mortgage, the offer has to be received
from the Lender before exchange of contracts.
If you are arranging any new endowment
or life policies, acceptance of risk must be received from the insurance company
before exchange of contracts. You may also need to have available Buildings Insurance.
We can arrange a quote if required.
When we have received the local search and
offer of mortgage and have satisfied ourselves as to the title, we will report to
you and ask you to sign the contract and mortgage deed. We will also ask you for
the deposit to be used on exchange of contracts.
If you have a related sale, we
will usually be able to arrange that the deposit received from your buyers is used
for your purchase and passed up the chain. THE EXCHANGEAt this stage, we are
ready to arrange an exchange of contracts once a completion date has been agreed.
It is at this stage, that stress levels rise! However, we are here to take the strain.
The majority of people buying and selling are involved in A CHAIN! This means that
there is a linked series of transactions and EVERYBODY wants to sell and buy on
the same day so that they do not have to pay for bridging finance or rented accommodation.
We therefore have to wait until all parties in the chain have:- (a) A mortgage (b)
A local search (c) Title approved (d) Agreed a completion date (which is not normally
less than ten working days from exchange) We will liaise with the Estate Agents,
and other lawyers until the exchange has been achieved.
When exchange has taken
place, the completion date is legally binding and you can now swing into action
and organise your move. Moving ChecklistThe following are just a few reminders of the things you
must deal with - Arrange contents and buildings insurance (we can provide a
quote for this)
- Contact Gas, Electricity, Water and Telephone Services, Arrange
for meters to be read and accounts to be transferred
- Book the removal van
- Cancel Bankers Order for Mortgage payments, after exchange of contracts
- Notify
Local Authority of move and arrange apportioned account for council tax
- Notify
all insurance companies premium bonds office employer Accountant dentist and doctor
schools church clubs banks building societies DVLC and Tax Office relatives and
friends
- Arrange for friends to look after the children and pets on moving day!
- Arrange for mail to be re-directed
THE COMPLETION 1. We will let you have a
statement showing all the costs and disbursements due and will draw this up as soon
as possible so that you can arrange to let us have the balance four days before
completion.
2. On completion day, if you have a sale, we must wait for the buyers
lawyer to send us the sale money by telegraphic transfer before we can send out
the money by the same method on your purchase. This means that it is unlikely that
you will get the keys to your new house before lunch time on the day of completion.
We suggest that you do not leave your old house, before you have checked with us
that it is in order for you to do so. If you just have a purchase, we can usually
send the money quite early on the morning of completion, but you are unlikely to
get the keys before midday as you must allow the seller time to vacate the property.
FINALLY We hope this guide will be of some assistance and remove some of the uncertainty
associated with moving house. © Kingfishers,
Licensed Conveyancers, Maidenhead, Berkshire
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