Yes, you would need to provide proof of identity and address to initiate the process. 

For identity proof, you would need anyone from the following:

• A valid passport
• A valid driving license

For address proof, you would need anyone from the following from the past three months:

• A utility bills 
• A council tax bills 
• A bank statements 

In case you are not a resident of the UK, we will ask for two forms of proof of address and one proof of identity, certified by a Notary Public bearing the notarised seal.

After receiving your identification, our solicitor will obtain electronic verification using the ID documents provided. If we couldn’t obtain a satisfactory result, we will contact you for other proof.

Some searches are recommended by the solicitor for all purchases. Other searches are asked by the mortgage lender to protect them from any liabilities that the property may have. But all searches will be carried out by your solicitor. 

As a seller, you would receive the rest of the purchase money on the day of completion or after the completion of your sale and purchase. Usually, 10% of the purchase price is made on the exchange of the contract as advance payment. The other portion is typically made by cheque. In case, the sum is large, we can arrange to transfer the money directly to your bank if you request in advance. We collect your account details before the day of the transaction to initiate the payment on this day. The service would include a bank transfer fee.

These kinds of information are collected through Local authority searches that check if there are any plans for a motorway near your property or commercial construction nearby.

Location-specific searches carry out additional searches that might be required or recommended based on the location, type of property, or specific doubts raised by the buyer. These may include:

• Tin Mining searches 
• Mining searches 
• Local Authority Questions, like Public Paths, Pipelines, Noise Abatement Zones, Common Land, etc.

We strictly follow the target of completing the transaction within two months and for this, we follow up with other conveyancers and third parties who are holding things up. Yet, there are a few unexpected circumstances that become the cause of the delay. Some of the common causes of delay are listed below:

• Mortgage applications, taking too longer to process than usual, probably because a reference that the lender requires from a third party is not immediately available, or because the mortgage lender is unusually occupied.
• A single delay at any point in the chain will delay every other process.
• The mortgage company comes up with unforeseen conditions.
• Any member in the chain doesn’t want to process it as quickly as the others.
• Searches or inquiries reveal something not anticipated before.

Your conveyancer will carry out local searches to know about the property. The conveyancer will ask or research about some set issues concerning the property you are to purchase. In the research, the conveyancer will be asked for a fee by the local authorities.  The fee is paid for the search of the property. The fee will be requested from you by your conveyancer.

During the search, delicate and vital issues may be brought up about the property to be purchased. It will not reveal details such as your plans in developing the property or its expansion thereof. The search is likely to take up to twenty days at most.

Usually, searches do not take much time. A couple of days is enough as most of the searches are done by the conveyancer. The Local Authority Search, the most important one, takes around two weeks because it requires the help of the local authorities. The search duration can be even more if the local authority has a backlog. 

Yes, it is possible and is common in property transactions. The situation is called Gazumping, whereby a buyer has inquired about the sale of a property from the seller. The seller accepts the buyer’s offer but agrees with another higher offer than the first buyer before the exchange of contracts has occurred. Some use it to refer to an increase in the initial price agreed at the last moment.

Here are a few known remedies for gazumping:

1- Ask for a copy of the sale agreement in advance.

2- Sign a lockout agreement after the acceptance of your offer as the buyer.

3- Acquire a conveyancer beforehand for advice and have the conveyancer look into the property’s details.

If you have purchased the property with a mortgage, you will have to pay off the remainder of your mortgage, before selling it. You would need to talk to your lender or broker to determine how much money is left to pay. When you make an early repayment, it may include penalties.

The payments may include the charges for the following when selling your property:

• Fee of real estate agent
• Remainder debts secured against the property in addition to a mortgage.
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) fees, in case the property is not exempt or has a valid certificate
• Land registry fees
• Legal fees
• Removal costs
• Capital gains tax, if the property is not your primary home or has a lot of land.
• Cost for essential home improvements or repairs.

Yes, depending on the type of relationship shared by both parties. If the buyer or seller has worked with the solicitor in the past, then there is no problem.  However, being the solicitor does anything, both parties have to agree to their representation. At times there may be limitations to representation in the case it’s a mortgage plan. The lender may insist on separate representation just to avoid conflict of interest.