Wallace & Co. Solicitors and Notaries.   

Q1: I've never bought a property before. What is the procedure?
A1: When you have agreed a price the estate agents send us details. The seller's solicitor prepares the papers and sends them to us. There follows a period in which various searches are carried out, the lease and deeds are checked, various enquiries are made and the contract is agreed. You will apply for a mortgage and perhaps have a survey. After this you will be ready to "exchange contracts". This is when a completion date is agreed and both you and the seller will be committed. This is when you must pay the deposit (usually 10% of the price). We need your deposit cheque at least a week before contracts are exchanged to allow for clearance.

"Completion" is when the Seller moves out, the Buyer pays the rest of the money and gets the keys.

Between exchange of contracts and completion we prepare the transfer, carry out two more searches, report to your building society, get the mortgage money, prepare a financial statement and deal with the other legal formalities.

On completion the Buyer pays the balance of the price and the Seller moves out. We then deal with the payment of stamp duty and registration of the change of ownership at the Land Registry. This can take several weeks especially for new leaseholds. We then send the deeds to your building society or bank who hold them until your loan is repaid. Alternatively, these days lenders ask us to send the documents and deeds to you instead. We offer a deeds storage service in a fireproof safe for peace of mind.

This is only an outline to give you some idea of the timetable.

Wallace & Co., Solicitors and Notaries. 11a Station Parade, Balham High Road, London, SW12 9AZ (entrance in Ravenstone Street).
Tel: 020 8675 6755. Fax: 020 8675 2001.
email:    Is available      

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