In This Guide
choosing an agent
Conveyancing
1. What is conveyancing?
2. The conveyancing process
3. Exchange and completion
4. Costs
5. Choosing solicitors
6. Complaints procedure
7. DIY conveyancing
Holding viewings
Negotiation
Planning your sale
Prepare your home
Seller's Packs
Selling at auction
Selling in Scotland
Selling privately
Selling your home
Using estate agents
Conveyancing
DIY conveyancing
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On the other pages of this section, we have already established what exactly a solicitor does as part of the conveyancing process and roughly how much it is going to cost you. Given the sky high state of the housing market and the astronomical prices that people have been forced to pay for their homes, it is not surprising that there has been something of an upsurge in the number of people who don their robes and act like a solicitor for a while. In other words, people who do their own conveyancing.
Plenty of people with absolutely no legal experience are taking on the work and saving themselves hundreds of pounds. There will be no fees to pay, and no mark-ups or VAT on any disbursements that you may have to pay.
It doesn't always take up as much time as you might expect and with a bit of pre-emptive research at the library, many people find they are more than capable of handling the necessary work. Why not buy one of the books we have about conveyancing, this should leave you with a much better knowledge of the processes and intricacies than you can get by reading this site. Click here for details.
Another added benefit is the urgency with which you will no doubt handle the activities involved. You will always be your most important case, as it were, and you should be able to rely on yourself to swiftly respond to letters from the other solicitor and get the appropriate forms and documentation sent to the right places at the right times.
Not everyone should rush out and do their own conveyancing. It is complicated and you need to be fairly confident you're not going to make a mess of it all, as the penalties for making a hash of it all can be quite severe.
Make sure that you don't miss anything out from the list of activities
that a solicitor will normally carry out as part of the conveyancing
process. Do everything in sequence and in plenty of time and you
should be OK.
The main problem areas are likely to be the lease (if there is
one) and the contract. These are the bits of the process where
the solicitor most draws on his or her expertise, so you will
need to be careful, patient and thorough in all your dealings
with these two documents.
Check the terms of both documents extremely carefully, making sure you understand all the terms and the implications of all the clauses. If in doubt use one or more reference texts to assist you. Check everything - the spelling of your name, the proposed completion date, fixtures and fittings, restrictions and obligations and always double or triple check everything you don't understand the first time round.
Even when you are sure you have done everything, it may still
be worth getting a solicitor to give your work the once over and
ensure you haven't missed anything or made a glaring error. You
should bee able to find a solicitor who will do this for around
£100.
Two final words, Good Luck!
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