Are you thinking about moving home or already marketing your property? When selling your home it pays to get prepared early – the faster you get your paperwork dealt with, the faster your sale will go through!

When selling a property, there is a lot of information that clients are now required to provide. Through experience, we have found that completing the initial paperwork required by a solicitor as early as possible does help in speeding up a transaction. There are also initial tasks a solicitor must carry out before the legal conveyancing work for a sale can begin. We must comply with AML Regulations and deal with identification. We also need to download title documents which are now held electronically at the Land Registry for registered properties. Once these tasks have been undertaken, we can then look to start the actual conveyancing work. If your solicitor already holds completed instruction paperwork from you and has been able to deal with essential initial tasks prepare their file while you are marketing, your conveyancer will then be ready to begin the legal work for your transaction as soon as a sale is agreed. 

You will need to complete a Property Information form and a Fittings and Contents questionnaire. In addition, you will be required to provide the following, where applicable:

• A FENSA Certificate for any windows fitted since 2002. 
• A CORGI or Gas Safe Register Certificate for any boiler fitted since 2005
• Any central heating agreements you may have together with the most recent receipt
• A NICEIC Certificate for any electrical work carried out since 2005
• All planning permission and building regulations approvals for any works carried out to the property in the last 10 years. 
• Any guarantees for works carried out to the property.

If your property is leasehold, you will also need to provide:

• A copy of the lease
• The latest ground rent and/or service charge demand and receipt
• Copy buildings insurance
• Copies of any correspondence with your freeholder/managing agent
• Any share certificates.

Don’t worry if some of these items are not readily available as copies can be obtained but do remember, the faster you get the paperwork dealt with, the quicker the sale will go through. 

Boys & Maughan therefore welcome taking instructions at the same time as you are marketing your property. To assist with this, we have in place a dedicated pre sale advisory service allowing clients a sole point of contact for any queries about the conveyancing process and assistance with completion of our instruction pack. 

The costs involved with tasks to prepare our file are the Land Registry fees charged for downloading copy title deeds - around £6 - £20 (depending on whether your property is freehold or leasehold) and the electronic ID fee at £10-25 per client.

Once the instruction stage is complete and you have agreed a sale, the legal work will then be undertaken by a specific conveyancer appointed to deal with your case on a one to one basis.

Working this way means our conveyancing staff can enable a time efficient service that works towards achieving completion for conveyancing clients at the earliest possible opportunity and that once you agree a sale, you can concentrate on preparing to move home.

If you are thinking about moving or already marketing your property and have any queries about our pre-sale instruction service, please email lm@boysandmaughan.co.uk

For further information, see our handy hints leaflet here and our videos.

Comments from users of our pre-sale advisory service:

• “I have appreciated all you have done for me so far and I really would prefer to having you act for me, in the anticipation of a sale, in the future, as you and have been so proactive and understanding."

• "The paperwork can be daunting but your assistance has taken the sting out of it and made it a much more human experience” 

• "It has been a Godsend knowing I can just pick up the phone and call with any questions. Having a sole point of contact for initial enquiries has removed so much stress, especially as you are so approachable"

• "Thanks for a brilliant job in easing me into the conveyancing process for his sale"

• “Having Lisa at the end of the phone has inspired my confidence with completing the paperwork and understanding the process.”