In this article we’ll take a look at what can be done to help your sale go faster once you’ve agreed a sale with a buyer.
Firstly, it’s a good idea to have a solicitor ready even before you agree a sale. That way you’ll have a quote ready so that you can instruct them promptly. It’s also useful to complete as many of the initial solicitor forms as possible. This can be things like ID checks and information about your home such as fixtures and fittings etc. There may also be some documents that could take some time to dig out such as gas safety and electrical certificates, so it’s a good idea to get these together in preparation.
Once a sale starts progressing with solicitors after a buyer has been found, the onus is very much on the seller’s side to get the ball rolling, as something called a draft contract pack needs to be sent over from the seller’s solicitor to the buyer’s solicitor. This enables the buyer’s solicitor to order searches and raise enquiries and generally get things going their side.
It’s also very important to choose the right solicitor. At AKS we have solicitors that we’d recommend to our sellers and buyers that we’ve worked with before, have had good experiences with and find easy to get updates and progress from. Alternatively, you could use a solicitor that’s been recommended by a family member or a friend. With solicitors, you generally get what you pay for! You’re likely to have a worse experience and find communication difficult with a cheap online solicitor, compared to a slightly more expensive and local solicitor that you can contact easily! Some of our solicitors even go into our WhatsApp groups so you can drop them a quick message!
As there’s a solicitor involved in every sale and purchase, we’ll often have a good idea of which ones are good and which ones aren’t so good!
Ensuring you respond promptly to anything asked of you by your solicitor or agent will inevitably help speed things up and your solicitor will have everything they need to progress! Of course, the longer the process takes, the more stressed and anxious people can become, so it’s good to keep things moving as best you can.
Open communication is also very important– if you feel like somethings gone wrong for whatever reason, you’re unclear on something, or you have any questions about the process, just speak to us. It’s likely that we’ve come across the situation before and can offer some advice or help guide you through it. And if we haven’t, perhaps we’ll have the tools or contacts to help find the answers for you. Sometimes it can be easy to panic and go to ground if you’re worried or confused, but open communication and honesty is always best so that it can be worked through together.
Be flexible on move dates! The more flexible you are the better. Chains can take varied amounts of time depending on length of chain, which solicitors are involved and how long enquiries take to resolve and people’s individual circumstances. It’s always a good idea to have a rough idea of a timescale you’d like to work towards, but also a realistic understanding that until contracts are exchanged, the move date is never set in stone and many factors can affect the amount of time a sale can take.
If your property is leasehold or newbuild it’s likely that a management company is involved and information from their management pack is likely to be required in order to answer enquiries. Management packs can cost money and take quite some time to arrive (management companies are notorious for being very slow!) So it’s a good idea to get this ordered as soon as possible!
Thankyou for taking the time to read this and we hope you found it helpful!
