You should instruct a solicitor as soon as an offer has been accepted on either your sale or purchase so that a solicitor can begin to prepare the necessary paperwork and commence searches etc.

Each transaction is different. For a fast and accurate quote please call our freephone quotation line on 0800 389 1657.

It is difficult to accurately assess how long a transaction will take as we are dependent on other people, particularly when you are in a chain. If there are a number of people intending to buy and sell simultaneously, if there is a delay in any one transaction it will prevent everyone else in the chain from exchanging contracts. You should therefore ask your estate agent at the beginning of the transaction to find out what the position is of each of the other parties in the chain.

It is usual to undertake a local search which is carried out to protect both yourself and your lenders. A local search will be carried out in the records of the local authority which will reveal details of planning consent, road schemes, conservation areas and other matters of a similar nature.

You should be aware that when you purchase a property it will be “sold as seen” which means that the onus is on you as the buyer to carry out an inspection and survey to discovery any defects. If you are obtaining a mortgage your lender will insist that you pay for a mortgage valuation which is a very basic inspection of the property to assess its present market value. This is not a survey but merely ensures that the property is of sufficient value to protect the lender's interest. You should therefore consider obtaining a more details inspection known as a Homebuyer's Report or a full structural survey.

In virtually every case a deposit is paid to the Seller's solicitor on exchange of contracts. Ideally this should be 10% of the purchase price but in many cases reduced deposits are often agreed if, for example, you are obtaining a 95% mortgage. If you are simultaneously selling a property it is often the case that you may use the deposit received on your sale as the deposit on your purchase. It is not advisable to pay any deposit until exchange of contracts and then it should be paid to your solicitor. If, however, you are buying a brand new property you may be asked to pay a reservation fee to the developer. You should, however, ensure that this is fully refundable if you pull out of a transaction.

This is a tax payable by the buyer and applies if you are purchasing a property for more than £125,000 unless you live in very particular areas where there are exemptions from stamp duty land tax where the price is less than £150,000. Your solicitors will advise you if this applies to you. If you pay £125,001 to £250,000 stamp duty land tax is charged at 1% on the whole of the purchase price. From £250,001 to £500,000 the charge is 3% and above £500,000 it is 4%. You should note that if you are purchasing a property at around the stamp duty threshold of £125,000, £250,000 or £500,000 the Inland Revenue may investigate any attempt to reduce your liability to stamp duty land tax by apportioning the price between the property and any items left at the property by the Seller. An investigation by the Inland Revenue may result in an assessment requiring payment of the tax previously avoided.

It is not possible to give a precise time as to when the keys will be available. This will depend entirely upon when the purchase money is received by the Seller's solicitors. Please remember that we are unable to send money on to your Seller's solicitors until we have received any monies due on your sale. However, in practice it is generally between 12 noon and 2pm. The keys will normally be left with the estate agent.

If you are just selling or there is some money due back to you following a sale and a purchase it is generally paid to you on the day of completion or at the very latest on the next working day. How the money is paid to you is something that you will need to discuss with your solicitor.