Chantry Conveyancing has a panel of more than 20 independent law firms, with property solicitors who specialise in the legal and administrative aspects of buying and selling property across the North east.

When you sell

When you sell we will provide you with a fixed quote. Once the quote is confirmed, we will instruct your solicitor and they will ask you for basic details such as, proof of your identity and details of your current mortgage.

Before you exchange contracts

Exchanging contracts usually takes between one and two months, and involves a few steps that your solicitor will assist with wherever possible:

• Receive and fill in forms regarding details of the property and leasehold agreement (if there is one)
• Return them to your solicitor with details of any planning permission or building consents
• If you’re selling a leasehold property, your solicitor will ask your freeholder or management company for your lease, information about insurance, expenditure and service charges.

Once these steps are carried out, your solicitor can prepare the contract and send it to your buyer’s solicitor.

It is common for your buyer’s solicitor to have questions once they have the results of their survey and local authority searches, so staying available to your solicitor at this time is important.

When all parties are in agreement, a completion date will be arranged and your solicitor will send the final contract to you and your buyer’s solicitor. Read through the document, and if satisfied, sign it and send back to your solicitor.

Exchange, completion and afterwards

Once the contracts are signed:

• Your solicitor will exchange contracts with the buyer’s solicitor, and collect the buyer’s deposit. Each party is now legally committed to the sale
• If you are buying at the same time, your solicitor will agree the same completion date
• Your solicitor will pass on a transfer deed for you to sign and return
• They will also agree how much is left to pay on your mortgage from your mortgage lender upon completion
• When you return the transfer deed, your solicitor will send it and the title deeds to your buyer.

The time between exchange and completion is typically four weeks, but under certain circumstances it is possible to exchange and complete on the same day.

Once these steps are taken, your solicitor can now complete. On the completion date, your solicitor will:

• Receive the money from your buyer
• Pay off your mortgage
• Pay your estate agent's fee
• Pay his own fee.

When you buy

When you buy a property, we will provide you with a fixed quote. When the quote is confirmed, we will instruct your solicitor who will ask you for basic details such as, proof of your identity and details of your mortgage.

Before you exchange contracts

Exchanging contracts typically takes between one and two months. Once you have an offer accepted you and your solicitor will have access to information such as:

• Local authority search results
• Title deeds
• Leasehold agreement (if it's a leasehold property)
• Your mortgage offer

After your solicitor reviews the documents and reports to you, they will then arrange for you to sign the contract. Read through the document, and if satisfied, sign it and send back to your solicitor.

Your solicitor will ask for your deposit and agree the completion date.

Exchange, completion and afterwards

Once your deposit has been received:

• The parties involved will formally exchange contracts. At this point, each party is legally committed to the sale
• Your solicitor will get a completion statement ready, which sets out all the details of the financial transaction
• Your solicitor will ensure that the title deeds are in order with the Land Registry, and that nothing has changed since you made your offer
• Your solicitor will then prepare a transfer deed for you to sign and return, which will then be sent to your seller’s solicitor It is here that your solicitor will request funds from your mortgage company to pay for your new property
• If you are selling at the same time, your solicitor will exchange on the sale and will agree the same completion date
• On the agreed completion date, your solicitor will send the money to the sellers solicitor.

The time between exchange and completion is normally four weeks, however you can exchange and complete on the same day if you need to.

Once you've completed, your solicitor will complete any final actions required:

• Pay the stamp duty and send the transfer deed to the Stamp Office
• Register the transaction at the Land Registry
• Get a revised title deed showing that you own the property, and send it on to your mortgage lender.