Acting for the Buyer – Preliminary procedures

It is easiest if our clients inform us they are looking to buy a property at an early stage. We can then deal with the file opening procedures and be ready as soon as a property is found.

When a property is found and a price is agreed, we are notified by the Estate Agents and given the seller’s name and their solicitors’ details.

We then contact the seller’s solicitors confirming that we are instructed and requesting the papers.

On receipt of the draft contract, we initiate searches and enquiries, always a Local Authority search and a Water/Drainage search, and possibly other searches depending on the nature of the property and its location.

We can also assist you in arranging a survey of the new property.

If the property is leasehold we make detailed investigations of the freeholders, the insurance maintained by the freeholders and the service charges both past and present and projected for the future.

Once we are satisfied with the results of our enquiries and searches we will provide you with copies of all the relevant documents and either provide a written report on the property or invite you to our offices for a meeting to discuss all aspects of the transaction and address any questions you may have.

Exchange of the Contract

At this stage you will sign the contract and telegraph the deposit to our clients account. The deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price but maybe negotiated a little lower if necessary.

If there is a related sale we will be able to use the deposit paid by your buyers as part of all the deposit you will have to pay on the exchange of the contract on your purchase.

If there is a chain, depending on the number of transactions involved, it may take a little time before everyone in the chain agrees a completion date and is ready to exchange.

When we are notified the chain is ready to commit, we will telephone you for the final go-ahead to exchange and commit you to the agreed completion date.

Exchange usually takes place by telephone and after exchange, you can no longer withdraw from the transaction. Your deposit will not be returned to you if for any reason you should fail to complete after the contract has been exchanged.

Completion

This is the day you collect the keys and move into your new home.
Before exchange, we will have discussed your financial arrangements and usually been instructed to act for you mortgage lenders. After exchange we report to your mortgage lenders and request the mortgage advance in time for completion. This takes a minimum of five working days.

As soon as possible after exchange we will send you the Transfer Deed and the Mortgage Deed for signature.
We will also provide you with a financial statement showing all the receipts and payments in the whole transaction (including Stamp Duty, Land Registry fees and other expenses) and giving you the final sum we will require transferred to Jacobsen & Co.’s clients account no later than the day before completion.

You do not need to be available on the actual day of completion. This takes place by telegraphic transfer of funds and once the money is safely received by the seller’s solicitors they keys will be released to you.
After completion we deal with all formalities of paying the Stamp Duty and registering you as new owners of the property. About 4-6 weeks after completion we will send you copies of the new Registers of Title showing you as the new owners