Sale of Freehold – Pricing

Carter Bells cover everything from initial instructions through to completion, keeping you in touch throughout the process.

Click below to view, print or download a PDF of the stages of a freehold sale and the services provided by Carter Bells:

What does our service not include?

Whilst we will assist with the legal aspects of the sale of your property, there are some matters that either we cannot assist you with or there would be an additional charge for these services. We therefore set out below some of those matters:-

• Tax advice - if you require this advice, you should seek the advice of a qualified accountant.
• Unregistered land - if the property is not registered at the Land Registry, we will have to locate the title deeds and produce an Epitome of Title as well as the sale contract. We will provide this service but an additional charge would apply.
• A defect in title arises - this could be for example if there is a restriction placed on your ability to sell the property or if covenants affecting your property have been breached or if there is a lack of legal rights to access the property. We will deal with necessary work to ensure the sale can proceed but an additional charge may be made in those circumstances.
• Contacting other solicitors and other parties in your chain apart from your buyer’s solicitors and your estate agent - we will assist in communicating with your buyer’s solicitor and any estate agent but our role does not extend further. We have a professional obligation not to contact your buyer direct where they have a solicitor or licensed conveyancer appointed to act for them. If we are required to give information to other estate agents and solicitors involved in your chain, this would be work that is normally carried out by an estate agent so it would mean an additional charge if this service was provided.
• Further sales of the property if your initial sale falls through - we charge for each sale that you instruct us to deal with. If your initial sale unfortunately falls through, we would make a charge for the work carried out at that time on that sale. We would then charge for any new sale based on our charge for dealing with the sale of any property because there will be different requirements of any new buyer and in connection with that sale.
• Dealing with unforeseen matters - if for example a dispute arises between you and any co-owner or occupier of the property or a neighbour then our charges would not include the time spent in dealing with this dispute. An additional charge would apply in these circumstances.
• Handing over of keys or removal services - these are matters that either you or any estate agent or any removal company should deal with.
• Service of any notice or any work connected to the eviction of any tenants at the property - if you require such a service, an additional charge would apply.
• Auction sales - we can assist with this type of sale but the charge for the preparation of a sale pack and subsequent work relating to the sale of the property will be based on an individual estimate based on the circumstances of the particular auction sale.
• Advising on any structural issues relating to the property. You should take advice from a surveyor or structural engineer in this respect.

How long will my freehold sale take?

This is one of the most common questions we are asked as property solicitors. The short answer is that it depends on the circumstances of your sale. If there is only you and your buyer involved in the sale and your buyer does not require a mortgage and all parties deal with matters promptly, we generally expect exchange of contracts on your sale to occur about 4-6 weeks after the contract and papers are sent to the buyer’s solicitors. The date of completion of the sale then depends on the requirements of you and your buyer.

However, we set out below a number of factors that can slow down the progress of your sale based on our experience but this by no means is the full set of factors that have arisen during a sale. The factors are:-

• Your buyer needs to sell his/her property at the same time- you are then dependent on how quickly the buyer of your buyer’s property can proceed too and they may need to sell or take out a mortgage to fund their own purchase
• Your buyer needs a mortgage to buy the property- you will then be dependent on how quickly the lender gets the property valued and how quickly the lender decides to issue a mortgage offer to the buyer
• Any survey results- the buyer may not instruct a surveyor until some time into the sale but await the results before they proceed. Alternatively, the survey may reveal defects the buyer wants rectified or the price reduced before they will proceed.

Click below to view, print or download our guide to freehold sale fees and third party expenses (disbursements):