Top tips to ensure the sale of your property proceeds smoothly

The time has come for you to sell your property, and you have appointed an estate agent to find and secure that all important buyer for you. Here are our top tips for a stress-free wait:

1. Appoint your solicitor so that you can complete the various standard conveyancing forms (namely the Sellers Property Information Form and Fittings and Contents Form). This way, when a sale has been agreed the conveyancing process can proceed promptly with an early submission of a draft contract to your buyers’ conveyancer.
2. If you have had any building work carried out to the property make sure you have all the paperwork to hand. Planning and Building Regulation approvals are a must for recent work carried out.
3. Guarantees – if you have any available again have these to hand.
4. Any FENSA certificates for newly installed windows, gas safety certificates for your boiler or electrical certificates for any electrical work carried out should be to hand, as your buyers’ conveyancer will want to see these.
5. In short, place yourself in the position of a buyer – think ahead to what you might want to see and you probably won’t go far wrong!
6. If you have a mortgage this will have to redeemed on completion of your sale. If you are not linking a purchase and porting the mortgage product beware of any early repayment penalty. This may influence when you want to complete your sale.Following these steps will enable your buyers’ solicitor to proceed promptly with the conveyancing process and will remove a lot of the delays which are common frustrations for both parties.