subject: Property Conveyancing From The Sellers Point Of View [print this page] You may be familiar with the term Conveyancing but what does it really mean? The term conveyancing refers to the legal process of transferring ownership of a piece of property from the seller to the buyer. Conveyancing also involves enquiries and searches and/or any other final task that may take place following a sale.
If you are looking to buy or sell a property, be it an investment property, land or home, you will need to sign a legal contract. The legal work that is involved in preparing the sales contract and mortgage along with the other related documents is termed as conveyancing.
Though, it is possible to carry out the conveyancing process on your own, it is always advisable to take the help of professional conveyancers or conveyancing lawyers. The legal process of conveyancing can be quite confusing and complicated, so it is always better to be guided by a professional.
Conveyancing from the perspective of a seller:
You would need the expertise of a professional conveyancer when selling a property. From the sellers perspective, conveyancing can be divided into three main stages and there are specific tasks that need to be fulfilled at each stage. These three stages are:
Pre-contractual stage
Exchange of contracts
Completion
The pre-contractual stage: Soon after you have accepted an offer on your property, legal documents need to be drafted for transferring ownership from you to the buyer. Being the seller, you will have the responsibility of drawing up the legal contract.
Licensed conveyancers or property solicitors can carry out this task for you. Once you present the contract to the buyer, they will check it and may want to negotiate the contents of the contract. The contract will generally include the following details:
The boundaries of the property
If things like fixtures and fittings, such as kitchen units, carpets are included in the sale or not
The price that the buyer has to pay for the property
If there are any legal rights or restrictions attached to the property or rules regarding the use of the property
If there are any type of planning restrictions attached to the property
Descriptions of the services available with the property, for example, gas, drainage and so on
The date when the sale is completed (known as the date of completion)
The exchange of contracts: After going through the contract, if both the seller and the buyer are satisfied with its contents, they will have to get the final copies of the contract signed and sent to each other. This is known as the exchange of contracts which is the second stage of the conveyancing process.
Once you have signed and exchanged the contracts, the selling and buying agreement is legally binding. You cannot usually withdraw without from it without paying compensation for it.
Completion: Once the buyer has paid the whole amount and the contracts have been exchanged, the following steps take place:
The money will be transferred from the buyer to the seller
The legal documents, transferring the ownership of the property, will be handed to the buyer
The seller will have to move out of the property in the state as mentioned in the contract
The seller hands over the keys to the buyer
Once the third and last stage of the conveyancing process is completed, the property will be officially owned by the buyer.
