Conveyancing is the process concerned with preparing the required legal documents before selling a property. Both the seller and buyer must go through this process, but the legal obligations of each side will be somewhat different.

If you’re going to be selling a property it’s worth taking a look at the conveyancing process and what is required of you. It can potentially help you to avoid any legal and financial pitfalls.

At this point you might be tempted to bring in a solicitor or a professional conveyancer to help out. This will make sure you have access to a professional level of expertise. A solicitor or conveyancer will be clued-up on the laws of your state and local council. It will also be really useful to consult with your agent throughout the selling process.

Sellers are responsible for several things in the conveyancing process. These are as follows:

Documentation

Most of the time, the seller will have the responsibility of preparing the contract of sale. This is something that can be done with the help of a solicitor, professional conveyancer or even a selling agent. Getting the right professional to assist you will depend on the nature of the sale itself.

In private property sales, it will be up to the selling agent to prepare the contract. If you choose to go to auction however, it is more beneficial to get a solicitor or conveyancer to draw up the bill of sale.

At the same time as this, the seller must provide an official statement; a vendor’s statement. Guess who you can get to write this up for you though? That’s right: the conveyancer or solicitor. Purchasers don’t need to worry about this, but they might want to do some title searches of their own to help verify the small print of the statement.

As well as the contract of sale and vendor’s statement, the seller is required to hand over the certificate of title. Title documents should be free from encumbrance, other than anything previously agreed by both parties during initial negotiations. As the seller owns the property, they should be the ones who own this document.

If the seller still has a mortgage, the title certificate may be under possession of the bank. In this case it would be the vendor’s responsibility to move this into the possession of the buyer.

Legal obligations

So you’ve sorted out the documents necessary for the conveyancing process to run smoothly. Now what? Well there are further legal obligations that both parties are required to meet. Some of these factors can vary depending on circumstances in individual cases.

Take the example of a property being rented out to a tenant. If the property is going to be sold as a vacant property, then the seller is legally obliged to notify the tenant that they must leave the property by an agreed upon date.

Owners of rental properties will frequently work alongside a property management company or letting agency, who can help by providing advice in situations such as the one above. You can find agents within your area by using free search engines online.

Sellers must also ensure that they turn over the property in the same condition it was in, as detailed in the contract of sale.

The costs

So a professional conveyancer sounds expensive right? It might be slightly pricey but you have to remember it is the service of a professional who has a real depth of knowledge on the specific area of conveyancing. The seller usually pays less for the services of a conveyancer when compared to what the buyer will pay.

Transactions can be riskier for the buyer than the seller, which will require conveyancers to get stuck into their side of things a little more. Just remember that the more tasks a conveyancer needs to do for you, the higher their fees will be.

Disbursement costs will be higher for sellers than for people purchasing property. This will be down to the fact that the conveyancer will need to conduct more searches to draw up the seller’s statement. Sellers are legally and contractually obliged to provide this information and are required to pay for the compulsory searches in order to back it all up.