SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

We are often being asked a number of questions and here we answer the questions most regularly asked. These questions are mainly directed to people who are buying and selling their homes i.e. owner-occupiers, but whether you are buying and selling and moving home or just buying and selling some other property, we would like you to read through the questions and answers as this will give you some idea of what is involved. If you are only buying or only selling, some of the questions and answers will not be entirely relevant to your case.

If after reading them through you have any further enquiries, please contact us and we shall be pleased to help.

(Q) Can I move into the house I am buying a day or so before I move out of the property I am selling?

(A) Generally, no, because in order to get you a key for the house you are buying, we have to hand over the purchase money and of course we shall not get the money until we have completed the sale of your present house and you are actually moving out. So, unless you want to get a bridging loan from the Bank to pay for the new house in advance, everyone has to move on the same day.

(Q) What should I do with the keys of the property I am selling?

(A) We would prefer that you either hand them to us or to the Estate Agents after you have moved out. They should not be given directly to the Buyer. The reason for this is that under English Law, although the Buyer is bound by the Contract to the purchase and if he does not complete on the completion day itself, has to compensate you for any delay in completing by paying you interest, there is no practical way in which we can make your Buyer or his Conveyancers complete and hand over the money on the actual day of completion. However, if the keys are handed over to the Agents or ourselves, we can make sure that the Buyer does not get the keys until we get his money.

(Q) Do I have to attend completion myself?

(A) No, we do the completion with the other side's Conveyancers and you are not involved at all.

(Q) What do I do about Water rates and Council Tax?

(A) On exchange of Contracts, you should write to the Local Authority and the Water Rating Authority on the property you are selling. You should ask them either to let you have a refund of the Council Tax you have paid, or, if you have not yet paid the Council Tax for the current period, an apportioned demand.

You should also contact the Local Authority and notify them of your new property, as generally, you only become responsible for Council Tax when you begin to move your belongings into the property (and this may not be until after completion).

You should also deal with the reading of electricity and gas meters and payment of the telephone account up to the date of completion.

(Q) Can you guarantee the keys will be available to me on the completion day or by a particular time on that day?

(A) Although we can guarantee that we shall have completed the legal work and will be all ready to complete, and although in 99% of all cases everything goes through without difficulty, problems do occasionally arise.

The most usual case of difficulties is where there is a "chain" i.e. A buying from B, B buying from C, C buying from D etc. On completion day A's money must be passed to B, B must pass the money to C etc. and so on down the chain. As you will see, the further down the chain you are, the more difficult it becomes, and if the person selling refuses to release the keys until the money is in their Conveyancers hands, it could be quite late in the day before the keys would be released. Further delays can also be involved if, for example, a Building Society cheque does not turn up on time, or if there is a delay in a Bank transmitting funds between Conveyancers (whose offices are often scattered all over the Country), let alone if one of the persons in the chain refuses to complete on the date set for completion (and, as we have mentioned, in English law there is unfortunately no practical way in which to make someone complete on the actual completion date even though it is stated in the Contract-but, of course, a Buyer who does not keep to the Contract would have to pay interest to the Seller as compensation).

Although this all sounds very complicated and uncertain, we can usually get round any problems that arise and have a number of facilities open to us to overcome particular difficulties. We can, therefore, usually ensure that matters go through without a hitch and if there are any problems, you will rarely know about them as we shall be able to deal with them without worrying you.

In very few cases it may not be possible to overcome the problem which could then cause delay in the release of the keys.

(Q) Is there any way in which I can ensure that there will be no delays with my keys?

(A) The way to ensure that there will be no disruption at all is for you to make arrangements for a bridging loan to be available from your Bank. We do not think that it is necessary for this to be done unless yours is likely to be a particularly difficult case, although it may well be advisable for you to have a word with your Bank Manager and make tentative arrangements just in case a problem does occur which causes delay. Making such tentative arrangements should not cost you any extra money at all but we would ask you to discuss the matter with us before you see your Bank Manager, so that we can make sure you are doing the right thing.

Finally, if yours is a case where you are buying and selling your house it would be helpful to us if you could let us know before you move, your likely movements on the day of completion and any telephone numbers at which we can contact you, should the need arise. Also, please remember to let us have the address of the house to which you are moving if it is not the same as the property you are buying.