Our eminent residential property expert, Ross Ward, answers your questions about moving home. If you are buying or selling and you’d like his advice, email your query to marketing@tayloremmet.co.uk
I have just put my house on the market with a local estate agent. When do I need to tell my solicitor I intend to sell?
I would recommend you contact your solicitor as soon as possible, particularly if you are confident you will find a buyer fairly quickly.
Your solicitor will want to make sure your deeds are in good order and will send you a pack including a property questionnaire and a list of fixtures and fittings for you to fill in and return.
Once the estate agents have agreed a sale, you will then be in a position to issue a contract to the buyer’s solicitor without delay.
What is meant by synchronisation of exchange of contracts?
If you are both selling and buying and want to move from one house to another on the same day, your solicitor will exchange contracts on both properties at the same time. This will ensure you do not end up with two houses – or none at all!
If there are a number of related transactions in the chain, it may be some time before everyone is ready. This can often cause frustration, as you may be waiting on others before your solicitor can arrange the synchronised exchange. Once it has taken place, all parties are committed to moving on the agreed completion date, which is written into the contracts.
My solicitor has advised me to insure the property I am buying from exchange of contracts although I will not be moving in for some weeks. Why is this?
Unless the contract states otherwise, the risk in a property passes to the buyer from the moment of exchange. Therefore, you are accountable for any loss or damage unless it can be proved it was due to the vendor’s lack of proper care. As it is usually impossible to predict exactly when exchange will take place, I would recommend that you set up your own insurance arrangements as soon as possible, so your policy is effective immediately.
If you have a mortgage and your lender is arranging insurance, you will find most will automatically cover the property from exchange. I would suggest you contact the firm’s insurance department to ensure this is the case.
Properties still under construction are usually an exception to the rule. The contract on a new house will state that it remains at the builder’s risk until completion.
There may be some duplication of insurance between exchange and completion, as the vendor is likely to retain their own cover, particularly if they have a mortgage on the property. The lender will want to protect its interest until completion, in case the sale falls through.
I have agreed that £2,000 will be retained on completion to cover the cost of repairs on the house I am buying. Who will benefit from the interest on this money?
Your solicitor will negotiate a clause in your contract to make clear which party will hold the £2,000 and will consequently benefit from the interest on completion.
It can be agreed that your solicitor will hold the money until the work has been done. Alternatively, the vendor’s solicitor can set up a deposit account in joint names.
There should also be a limit set on how long the money can be held, so that if the work is not carried out by a particular date, the retention can be released and you can instruct builders.
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