Barcan Woodward
Buying & Selling a Home
For an estimate of our charges phone now
Giles Woodward or Angela Hewitt in North Bristol - 0117 923 2141
Andrew Dobie, June Attiwell or Caughlin Crosby in South Bristol - 0117 963 5237
We act for hundreds of people every year who are buying and selling property. We offer a quick efficient and competitively priced service.Our clients regularly come back to us.
- New to buying - how it works
- Selling your property - how it works
- How much will it cost?
- Our home buying department
- Contact us
- Legal terms explained
New to buying - How it works
Step 1. Paying for it
Mortgage or cash? Before you start you will need to decide how you are proposing to pay for the property. You will probably have some money saved for the deposit but for the balance you will need to get a mortgage.
Step 2. Arrange a Mortgage
Approach Building Societies, Banks and other recognised lenders early on. They will tell you how much they are prepared to lend you which will depend on your salary or the combined salary of you and your partner. Find out their charges. You can use this information to work out a budget. Remember that in addition to the lender‘s costs you will have solicitor‘s fees and expenses plus other moving costs.
Step 3. View properties
Find a property you like and ask the estate agent to show you the Home Information Pack (HIP). Agree a price. Remember, you still do not have a legal contract so it could be sold to someone else. Ask the estate agents whether people are still being shown around the property. If they are, then you risk being gazumped. You should ask the seller to stop other viewings.
Step 4. Find a Solicitor and tell proposed lender that you have found a property.
Step 5. Get a survey
Your mortgage company will insist that a valuation is carried out of the property. It is a good idea to pay for a more detailed survey, which should tell you if there are any problems or potential problems and whether any building work needs to be carried out.
Step 6. Get local authority searches, mining searches etc -
Your solicitor will do this. These terms refer to standard questions sent to the local authority and other relevant bodies about plans they have for the area, whether there are any entries in their records and other matters that may affect it.
Step 7. Look at property information form and fixture and fittings form -
Your solicitor will obtain these forms from the seller‘s solicitors. They have been completed by the sellers and give you more information about the property. Look at these forms carefully and if you have any questions ask your solicitor.
Step 8. Read survey
Read it very carefully. The property may require urgent or expensive building works which you were not aware of at the time you agreed the purchase price. If so, you may wish to negotiate a price reduction. It depends on what is revealed.
Step 9. Receive mortgage offer
If the surveyor‘s report is satisfactory and there are no other problems with your application your lender will send a mortgage offer to you.
Step 10. Exchange of contracts
The solicitors do this. Once contracts are exchanged there is a legal contract for you to buy the property. You and the seller are now committed and if either of you pull out or delay completion you may have to pay a heavy financial penalty. By the time exchange takes place you should have had answers to all of your questions about the survey, the fixtures and fittings and property information forms. You will have agreed a price. The exchange process involves paying the seller a sum of money known as the deposit. This is usually between 5%and 10% of the purchase price. You will have agreed a completion date. This is the day when you actually move into the property and the seller moves out. It is also the day when the balance of the purchase price is paid to the seller. You should make sure that you have life cover in place from the date of exchange as well as buildings insurance if you are arranging this.
Step 11. Moving in on completion
On the completion date you can move in. Your mortgage company will have sent your solicitor the money you are borrowing and you will have paid any balance of the purchase price and solicitors' costs and disbursements. On the day of completion your solicitor sends the ‘completion‘ money by bank transfer to the seller‘s solicitor‘s bank. The seller should have left the property which should now be empty. The seller will probably have left the keys with their estate agent. You will not get the keys from the estate agent until the seller‘s solicitor has received the balance of the purchase price. You can move in!
Step 12. Contact all services
By completion date at the latest you should have notified all service providers, the main ones being the gas, electricity and telephone companies.
Step 13. Solicitor complete formalities
Your solicitor will deal with the legal formalities including having any Land Tax paid to the Inland Revenue and registering your ownership of the property at the Land Registry. The Land Registry records property ownership and transfers.
Buying and selling a home is stressful - we aim to reduce this stress to an absolute minimum by explaining each step of the transaction and being able to answer your questions.
Selling a property
Step 1. Order a Home Information Pack
Since 14th December 2007 a property must have a Home Information Pack (HIP) before the property can be marketed for sale (subject to some exceptions). The HIP must contain an Index, a Sale Statement, an Energy Performance Certificate, copies of the Registers and Title Plan from the Land Registry, a Local Authority Search and a Water and Drainage Search. More documents and information are required if you are selling a leasehold property. We are able to arrange a HIP for you.
Step 2. Choose an Estate Agent and put your property on the market
It is sensible to get at least 2 local estate agents to value your property. You should discuss their terms and conditions. You might also like to think about how to prepare your home for viewing. It is said that the smell of freshly roasted coffee is welcoming to potential purchasers! It is certainly worth making sure your home is neat and tidy. Some people even go to the trouble of redecorating.
You should negotiate the terms and conditions under which the estate agent will market your property. Check their commission rates and whether they tie you to a sole agency for any period.
Decide the selling price
Step 3. Agree a price with a buyer
It is always a good idea to find out a little bit more about the buyer before you agree a price. Are they selling a property? Do they have to find a buyer before they can proceed with buying yours? Are they buying with cash or a mortgage? If with a mortgage, have they got a mortgage agreed yet ? Conventional wisdom is that the best buyer is someone who has no property to sell and does not need a mortgage.
Step 4. Find a solicitor
Whilst it is important to get estimates, you need a solicitor to do a quick and efficient job and the cheapest one will not always do that. Some people like to use a solicitor they have used before.
Step 5. Complete property information and fixtures and fittings forms
Your solicitor will send you these forms and ask you to complete them. They will ultimately be sent to the buyers. You will give information about your property. You will say what is included in the sale. For example, are the carpets included?
Step 6. Notify your mortgage company
If you have a mortgage your solicitor will contact your mortgage company to find out how much is left owing and to get any title deeds. The Company will probably charge a fee for releasing the deeds which is debited to your mortgage account. If there is no mortgage then you should be in possession of your title deeds or copies of the Land Registry registers.
Step 7. Exchange of contracts
Until exchange of contracts you will not be legally obliged to sell the property. Once exchange has taken place you will not be able to withdraw from the sale. On exchange the buyer will make a part payment for the property, usually between 5% and 10% of the agreed purchase price. This deposit is held by your solicitor until ‘completion‘.
Step 8. Completion
This is the day when you must move out if you are living at the property and the buyers can move in. You move all of your possessions out of the property in preparation for the buyers to move in. You will probably want to leave the key with the estate agent or your solicitor. The key will only be released to the buyers when your solicitor confirms that the balance of the purchase price has been received. Once this is done the buyers receive the key and can move in. If you have a mortgage the amount owing will be deducted and paid to the lender. The solicitor will send you the balance of the sale proceeds after deducting solicitors' costs and any Estate agents fees.
How much will it cost?
Phone us for an estimate
Giles Woodward or Angela Hewitt in North Bristol - 0117 923 2141
Andrew Dobie, June Attiwell or Caughlin Crosby in South Bristol - 0117 963 5237To obtain a realistic estimate in your case you must confirm the charges with your solicitor and mortgage company.
Estate agents and removal fees vary but will have to be provided for as well.
Our house buying and selling department
Our department is split into two teams based at offices in North and South Bristol.
The partners in charge of the department are Giles Woodward and Andrew Dobie. Giles is based at our offices in North Bristol and Andrew in South Bristol. In addition, a specialist team at each office help Giles and Andrew.
Phone us for an estimate
Giles Woodward or Angela Hewitt in North Bristol - 0117 923 2141
Andrew Dobie, June Attiwell or Caughlin Crosby in South Bristol - 0117 963 5237
Email us for an estimate
You can e-mail us for an estimate or with your questions using our e-mail enquiry form by clicking here. If you wish to send us any attachments please click here which will bring up your computer‘s e-mail screen. We aim to respond within 1 working day of receiving your email.
Legal Terms Explained
Completion
The day you can move in to the property if you are buying and must move out if you are selling and when the balance of the purchase price is paid.
Deeds
Legal documents confirming ownership of the property. If you have a mortgage, your mortgage company should hold these. If not, you should have them or they may be held by your solicitor. If the property has been sold, transferred or mortgaged recently there may not be any deeds available but official copies of the Land Registry registers will be used.
Deposit
A proportion of the purchase price, normally between 5% and 10%, which is paid over to the seller on exchange of contracts. That is what solicitors understand by the term. House builders sometimes use the term to describe money paid to secure the right to buy a property being built. Banks and Building Societies call the deposit the difference between the purchase price and their mortgage.
Estate agent
A firm that markets property on behalf of the owner. They will advertise the property and arrange for prospective purchasers to view it. They charge the seller for this service.
Exchange of contracts
The solicitors do this. Once contracts are exchanged there is a legal contract for you to buy the property. You are now committed and if you pull out you may have to pay a heavy financial penalty. The seller is also committed and also may have to pay a heavy financial penalty if they pull out.
Fixtures and fittings Form
A form completed by the sellers giving the purchaser more information about what is included in the sale with the building, for example, carpets, garden ornaments, fitted cupboards. Fixtures are assumed to be included. Fittings are not.
Gazumping
Where the seller accepts a higher offer from another buyer just before exchange of contracts with the first buyer.
Gazundering
Where just before exchange of contracts the purchaser demands a price reduction or they will not exchange.
Home Information Pack (HIP)
A pack of information about the property which may help a buyer to decide whether or not
to purchase the property.Home Buyers Survey
A detailed survey, carried out by a surveyor, giving rather more information about the structure of a property than is supplied to the mortgage company in a simple valuation survey.
Land Registry
A government organisation that holds details of who owns property in England and Wales.
Land Registry Fee
The Land Registry charges for its services, which include giving information about the current registered owners of a property and registering new owners.
Land Tax
A tax paid to the government by purchasers on completion. The amount payable is based on the value of the property.
Local authority Search
These are questions put to the local authority about plans they have for the area around the property. This is done by submitting a form to the authority who reply on a standard form. The results will show, for example, whether there are plans to build roads or other developments nearby.
Mining search
Will show whether there are old mine workings under the property.
Mortgage
A long term loan to buy a home. It is repaid by monthly instalments over, typically, 25 years.
Mortgage indemnity guarantee insurance
Mortgage companies may insist that you take out this insurance if you wish to borrow 75% or more of the purchase price. It protects them in the event that you are unable to repay the mortgage.
Mortgage offer
An offer from a mortgage company saying how much they are willing to lend. This must be in writing.
Property Information form
A form completed by sellers giving more information about the property such as whether there are any neighbour disputes.
Redemption Penalty
A charge made by a mortgage company if the mortgage is repaid early. The charge can amount to six months worth of mortgage payments or even more. Such high penalties usually only apply in the early years of mortgages that came with attractive discounts.
Survey
A report about the structure and condition of a property. Typically, the more expensive the report, the more detailed it will be reflecting the time spent by the surveyor at the property.
Valuation report
The cheapest type of survey that does little more than give the surveyor‘s view of the value of the property.