The Complexities of Moving House
In an ideal world, moving house would be a pleasurable experience progressing seamlessly from finding the home of your dreams, through to moving in - and if you are selling as well, you will have found a committed buyer able to fit in with your timescales. Often, however, the complexity of the conveyancing process means that there is the potential for disruption, confusion and delay. Through extensive experience we are aware of many of the problems that can arise and we work with our clients to minimise these frustrations and avoid potential pitfalls.
Chains
Your move may be dependent on any number of other interrelated property transactions. Someone pulling out of a purchase, a delay in receiving a mortgage offer, a problem with a survey or a query over an insurance policy on any transaction in the chain will all potentially cause delays. You will need patience.
Cancellation
Right up until the point at which contracts are exchanged, any party can pull out or attempt to renegotiate the basis on which they are buying and/or selling. This is because at the point at which someone agrees to buy a home they are not in possession of all the relevant facts. It is only when surveys, searches and title deeds are checked that these facts become fully apparent. Any withdrawal or renegotiation at this stage will probably come after money has been committed to searches, surveys and mortgage applications. Unfortunately in cases where a party withdraws from a transaction you may find some of the costs you have incurred are not recoverable.
Our duties to your lender
We will need to involve your lenders in deciding what to do about any problems we discover during our consideration of the paperwork.
Communication
If you feel you don’t fully understand the conveyancing process this can lead to insecurity and increase the stress of moving. Recognising this, we will do our utmost to keep you fully informed of events, as they happen, and make sure you have as much time and as much information as possible. In turn you must ensure that you communicate with us, respond to any request for information quickly and sign and return documents etc. in the timescale required.
Assess your buyer and/or seller
Take a hard look at your buyer's and/or seller's circumstances. Are they a good prospect? Consider the additional costs that could be incurred if there are delays because of their sale or if they demand impossibly tight deadlines.
Moving dates
Don't commit to any expenditure (new carpets for example), or confirm removal arrangements until you have exchanged contracts.
Mortgage offer
If you are buying and require mortgage finance don't leave your application to the last minute. Clients' mortgage offers typically take several weeks to be received from the time an application is submitted. If you haven’t found a property yet, ask for an offer in principle, possibly from more than one lender, so that you can look at properties in the price range that you know you can afford. If you are arranging your own buildings insurance or your mortgage is dependent upon suitable life insurance, please make sure we are provided with details at the earliest opportunity.
Keep one step ahead when selling
It is in the interests of a seller to collect as much relevant information about the sale property as possible. This will include any necessary planning permissions, building regulation approvals and completion certificates, guarantees etc. Providing these to us as soon as you have sold your property is sensible, as the buyer will inevitably ask for them.
At Spratt Endicott we want to do everything we can to help your move go as smoothly as possible so if you have any concerns about any of these points or any other issues related to your move don’t hesitate to call.
Home Movers Guide
- How It Works Who does what - and when - when buying or selling a house
- Frequently Asked Questions About the conveyancing process
