ABM Solicitors & Advocates

Your friendly local one-stop legal service

Purchase

Purchasing a Property

Set out below are some brief notes explaining how ABM Solicitors will handle the purchase of your property, click on the items below to get more information. (Please go to our frequently asked questions, “FAQs” for a detailed timetable of events)

APPOINTING A SOLICITOR:
DRAFT DOCUMENTATIONS:
SEARCHES:
RAISING ENQUIRIES:
MORTGAGE OFFER:
IMPORTANT NOTE:
EXCHANGE OF CONTRACT:
COMPLETION:
KEYS:
REGISTRATION:

Appointing a Solicitor:

Once the sale has been agreed the first task which falls upon you is to appoint a Solicitor, if you have purchased your property via an Estate Agent they can assist you by forwarding a “Memorandum of Sale " to us, this will give us the authority to deal with your file.

You could also write or even telephone us at ABM Solicitors, our friendly staff will provide immediate quotations and guide you through any questions that you may have enabling you to make your decision as quickly as possible. You can also contact us and ask for a quote using the “contact page” on this website.

Once appointed we shall provide you with a client care letter setting out an estimate of costs and our basic procedure. We shall also request money on account in order that we may carry out searches on your behalf.

Draft Documentations:

We shall then request the draft contract, home information pack (HIP) and other documentation from the Sellers Solicitors. Once this is received we shall raise enquiries with the Sellers Solicitors and send out a report to you enclosing the documents received from the sellers solicitors together with an explanation. The next step is to carry out searches on your behalf.

Searches:

What are searches and why are they required?

Searches are required as they provide further information on the property which cannot be ascertained by just inspecting the property. There are four types of searches which need to be carried out at this stage:

• Local Authority Search (may be included in the HIP)

This search is required as it will show details of any planning applications made on the property i.e. if there is a rear extension at the property the search will reveal whether any planning permission was obtained at the time. The search will also reveal any proposals for new roads or traffic schemes, tree preservation orders, conservation areas, enforcement notices and any other matters within the Local Council's knowledge that may affect the property;

• Drainage Search (may be included in the HIP)

This will reveal whether the surface and/or foul water runs into a public sewer. This is important as this search will reveal whether you are to contribute towards the clearance and maintenance of the drains at the property;

• Environmental Search

This search will reveal if there are any waste disposal sites within the vicinity of the property, whether there are any risks from contaminated land. It will also reveal whether the property is in an area prone to flooding and the likelihood of that happening again. This is important as it can/will have an impact on your insurance premiums etc.

• Land Charges Search/Bankruptcy Search

This search is carried out on behalf of your lender to ensure that you are not bankrupt. If you have a common name/surname it is quite common that a few entries may be revealed. If this is the case then we shall ask you to sign a copy of the search to confirm that the entries do not relate to you.

Once the results of the searches have been received a report on the results of the searches will be sent to you.

Raising Enquiries:

We shall then raise 'enquiries before contract', these are enquiries raised to the sellers solicitors on issues revealed by the documentation received. Where the property is a Leasehold property, enquiries will also be raised to the freeholder and/or managing agents with respect to the amount of ground rent and /or service charge payable, whether there is any foreseeable expenditure, whether there are any outstanding issues with the existing tenant, the seller. A copy of any enquiries raised will be forwarded to you.

Mortgage Offer:

Once your mortgage offer has been received and all our outstanding enquiries have been received we will arrange an appointment with you to discuss and sign the documents and to discuss a date when you will receive the keys to the property, this is known as the ' completion date'.

Exchange of Contract:

In order to exchange contracts the following is normally required;

all outstanding enquiries must have been replied to,
satisfactory results of searches must have been received,
buildings’ insurance (if required must be in place),
if buying with the assistance of a mortgage your mortgage offer must be received and any conditions attached must be complied with.

Lastly a deposit will be required from you.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The Seller wants to withdraw from the property but surely he can't as I have signed my contract?

You should note that just signing the contract does not make it legally binding. The contract will only become legally binding once it has been 'exchanged' between us and the seller's solicitors. This is when we, after taking your instructions formally set the completion date with the sellers solicitors. Once contracts are exchanged you must complete your purchase on the date set otherwise you will be penalised.

Can I exchange contracts before I receive my mortgage offer?

We and most other solicitors strongly advise against this as once contracts have been exchanged you are legally bound to complete on the completion date.

Completion:

Once your matter is ready to be exchanged and you have provided us with a completion dated contract, it will then be exchanged with the seller's solicitors. This will be confirmed to you in writing and a statement will be provided to you setting out the balance required to complete (usually the monies gained through a mortgage), this is called the “Completion Statement”.

Once exchanged we will carry out one more search - the Priority Search. This is to find out if there are any new entries registered against the property i.e. another mortgage, if so the seller's solicitors will have to confirm that this will be removed before completion.

Keys:

On the completion date we will call you to confirm that your purchase has been completed and you will be able to collect the keys either through the Estate Agents or directly from the seller.

Registration:

We will deal with the registration of the property in your name. Within approximately 2-3 weeks you will receive a completion pack enclosing a copy of the register with your name and your lenders name (if any). This pack should be kept safely as the documents contained therein may be used if you decide to re-mortgage or sell your property in the future.

Call today and book your appointment with one of our friendly legal staff on 020 8848 8600 or email at - info@abmsolicitors.net