Selling A Home

Below are some key points to think about before you sell:

• The Agreement for Sale and Purchase

We always recommend forwarding the Agreement to your solicitor before you sign so that we can ensure you understand the various terms, disclosures and warranties. This can help prevent small problems turning into big ones.

• Find out what’s on your Record of Title

The Record of Title records important information about your property. There may be mortgages, consent notices, caveats, and covenants that could delay the sale process. It is important that you are aware of any of these issues at an early stage.

If your Property is in a cross lease, there are some extra steps to consider – especially if you have owned the Property for a long time. The outline of a Property on a cross lease title must match what is detailed on the Flat Plan of the title. Any enclosed and attached extensions (such as the addition of a garage or conservatory) may require the entire Flat Plan be resurveyed, which is costly and will potentially cause issues for your sale.

• Chattels and Warranties

In the Agreement you provide several warranties to the purchaser. For example, you warrant that all chattels listed in the agreement are accurately described and in the same state of repair at the time of settlement as they were at the time of signing.

Other warranties in the agreement are that you have not received any notices that may affect the property and certain requirements for obtaining building consent where you have done work on the property.

• Assignment of any EQC claims

If the agreement provides that any EQC or insurance claim lodged by you will be assigned to the purchaser at settlement, we need to carefully review these clauses in the Agreement to ensure that they accurately reflect what has happened and do not have any unintended consequences.

• Tax issues

The sale of your property may incur some tax liability and an early conversation with your solicitor can help discover any potential obligations.

We recommend engaging your solicitor as early as possible so that our experienced property team can help prevent any unexpected issues.

The above information is of a general nature only. You should contact our firm for advice relating to your specific circumstances.