Sales progression checklist
The first 2-4 weeks are going to be your busiest with viewings, so hopefully you can agree to an offer very soon. In the meantime, here is a guide to progressing a sale
In all honesty, selling a home could in most cases prove to be a daunting task and people sometimes do not get it right at first, they try and then try again. At this stage, you start to prep your home for viewings, putting the work in to make it attractive while getting prepared for the paperwork that is sure to come.
As such, sale progression is an important point in the process of the sale of your home and it typically starts when an offer is made for your property, and you have accepted. The process extends to signing contracts and completing the sale.
As this is a crucial phase, we have put together a checklist that should come in handy as the process of selling your home progresses…
Choosing a conveyancer/solicitor: You want to kick off your checklist by ensuring that you have your solicitor or conveyancer on board already. We have discussed this in a previous article but in choosing one, you want to make sure they come highly recommended, or you can see visibly via reviews that they have a proven success rate and focus on the individual, not the company. They will be the driving force, ensuring everything is chased up effectively, and the key to a smooth process, so cheap is not always best when dealing with your largest asset.
Filling out some forms (known as protocol forms): Once you decide on a conveyancer, they will send you lots of paperwork to fill in. This is usually emailed and completed electronically, but you can request this to be sent out by post. You will have to fill out a TA6 (Property Information Form) which provides information about the property's boundaries, utilities, any disputes, etc., and a TA10 (Fixtures & Contents Form) used to confirm the details of the items and fixtures you are planning to include or exclude from the sale. If you own a leasehold property there is also the TA7 (Leasehold Information Form) relating to all the relevant information about the lease. Don't be afraid to ask the estate agent or solicitor for help, as they would have seen these forms many times and should be on hand to provide you with some guidance.
Accepting offers: As offers begin to come in, your agent is under an obligation to inform you of each offer while guiding you to make a beneficial decision. If you do accept one of the offers you consider to be fair, your property will be taken off the market, your estate agent will send out the Memorandum of Sale to both solicitors and the sales process will begin!
Draft contracts: At this stage, if you have already instructed your conveyancer then draft contracts will be issued to the buyers' solicitor along with the forms you have completed above and any title information. The draft paperwork will detail the contract terms of the sale and give your solicitor and the buyers' solicitor to make any necessary amendments.
Searches: It is at this point the buyers' solicitor will submit the searches. These are usually made of three: The local search; information about the local area (historical and future), the environment search; information about the land the house and the surrounding area were built on; and the water and drainage search; information about flooding and the waterways & drains. The water & drainage and the environment come back quickly, sometimes instantly, whereas the local search can take some time. If you want things to move quickly or are under time pressure it is worth discussing with your agent whether the buyers can ask their solicitor to fast-track them but does come at an additional cost!
Management pack (leasehold & share of freehold only): If you have ever wondered why a leasehold sale takes longer than a freehold sale, this is the reason. If you own a leasehold, there will be a further form that needs to be completed, an LPE1 (Leasehold Property Enquiries Form). This is requested by your solicitor usually from your management company. If they are a larger company then they will have a huge pack of information that they will put together and send back, this will be up-to-date service charges, and if there are any section 20s (notice of major works) etc. There is a charge for this, which is usually around £200 - £400. The way most buildings are set up now is there's a management company who provides the management pack (LPE1) and the freeholder who provides the ground rent info, so be wary and it's worth checking this, as this is something that can delay a sale if the second pack is needed. If you own a share of freehold, you still need an LPE1 form completed, but this will usually be sent to one of the other co-freeholders to fill in.
Surveys: If you buyer is purchasing with a mortgage, then the lender will insist on a mortgage valuation. This can be a physical appointment where a RICS surveyor will visit your property or, what is becoming more popular, a desktop valuation, with a surveyor conducting this remotely. Your buyer may also get a private survey, which will either be a level 2 homebuyers' survey or a level 3 building survey.
Enquiries (questions via the solicitor): When you get these will depend on the buyers' solicitor; some will raise their enquiries once they receive the draft paperwork (title & protocol forms enquiries), and others wait until all the searches and mortgage offer have been received. There's no right or wrong way, but we prefer the enquiries are raised as soon as possible, just in case there is a title enquiry that needs a lot of time to deal with. The questions themselves will be varied; your solicitor will be able to answer some on your behalf, some will come to you and potentially third parties may need to get involved, for example, a local authority. Enquiries go back and forth during the process and for your buyer usually the last thing to finalise before signing the contract documents.
Exchange of contracts: Here, both parties have agreed on everything and contracts will be signed. Then you’ll both work together to set a completion date and hand over the keys. At this point, you may have already returned your signed document, the contract & TR1 (which is the transfer of title to the new buyer), but you will notice the solicitor asks you not to date these documents (this is added by the solicitor when the completion date is legally agreed). You will be asked individually at the point of exchange if you are happy to do so, and the completion date is agreeable. You've exchanged! It's also at this point you will want to engage your removal company unless you are planning to do it yourself.
Completion: The big day! Key handover day. Completion day. This can happen anytime between 9 am to 5 pm, but the earlier the better in most cases. Usually, it's around 12 pm - 2 pm by the time the solicitors have sent the money but can take longer if there is a larger chain. You may have a situation where you have already completed but are still moving out, don't panic, the estate agent should be able to manage this between you and the buyer to give you a bit more time.
If you need any independent advice during the process or any of the stages above, feel free to get in touch on our WhatsApp below.
