Selling a Property

The stages involved in the sale of a residential property can vary for each transaction.  However, below are the key stages we would typically expect in a standard property sale.

Step 1:  We take your instructions and give initial advice.

Step 2: If you have not yet received an offer on your property, we will look to obtain your title deeds and have everything on file awaiting an offer.

Step 3: Once an offer has been received, we contact you to discuss the offer terms.

Step 4: We then issue a formal written acceptance to the purchasers’ solicitor along with the title deeds for them to review.

Step 5: We deal with any title queries from the other solicitor and liaise with you on any further property queries.

Step 6: We obtain a Redemption Statement for your current mortgage and deal with the redemption of the mortgage at completion.

Step 7: Once the purchasers and their solicitor are happy with everything, they issue a concluding letter at which point the contract (or missives) becomes legally binding on all parties.

Step 8: We liaise with you on the signing of all relevant documentation in relation to the sale and ensure this is all signed in advance of the completion date.

Step 9: We receive the purchase price from the purchasers’ solicitor and deal with the repayment of your mortgage, the estate agent and the fees and outlays.

Step 10: We remit the balance of the purchase price to your designated bank account or transfer to your onward purchase if required.

Step 11: We deal with having the mortgage discharged from the title of the property once the mortgage has been repaid.

We will keep you updated throughout the process.

The average process from an offer being accepted takes between six to eight weeks.  It can be quicker or slower depending on the parties in the property chain or the complexities involved.

We will provide you with a written fee estimate once we have had an initial discussion or email exchange with you to find out all the relevant information for the sale. If there are any expected complications during the sale, we will inform you and discuss any potential impact on price before additional fees are incurred.

Additional third-party costs

Typical third-party costs include:

• Property Search and Legal Report payable to search company: £150
• Registration fee for Deed of Discharge of Mortgage payable to Land Register: £60/£80 each deed
• Advance Notice payable to Land Register: £20
• Company Search (if applicable) payable to search company: £66
• Coal Authority Report (if applicable) payable to search company: £62
• Plans Report (if applicable) payable to search company: £127

There may also be miscellaneous expenses such as obtaining copies of missing title deeds, the cost of which can vary depending on the number of deeds required.

These costs are either inclusive of VAT or no VAT is payable.

At Thorntons, we are market leaders for selling property in the area. Our dedicated property teams work closely with our estate agency operation to make the process as stress free and easy as we can for you. We know the sales process from start to finish, and with our experience, property experts, local knowledge and highly developed systems and procedures, we are on hand to make the process as swift and smooth as possible.