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Residential property and conveyancing solicitors

Always approachable, helpful and professional

Buying and selling your home

What we can help you with

  • Buying and selling your home (conveyancing)
  • New build purchases
  • Buy-to-let transactions
  • Re-mortgaging
  • Help to Buy / Shared ownership
  • Buying at Auction

Why Thomson Hayton Winkley?

Buying or selling your home and moving house is often said to be one of the most stressful undertakings in life. Instructing an experienced conveyancing solicitor can make the whole process much easier. Our extensive experience and local knowledge will ensure a smooth property transaction from start to finish.

Acting on the sale or purchase of a house is often not straightforward and it is important that you use a solicitor who will understand those complexities and ensure that you can live happily ever after.

Communication is key! There are many different things that can hold up the process and because clients do not always understand what is going on behind the scenes they can become frustrated. We are proud to have a team of property lawyers who understand the importance of communication and who ensure that clients are kept updated and have the whole process explained as clearly as possible.  If there are delays that our outside our control we will do everything we can to get things moving, but will let you know what to expect.

Thomson Hayton Winkley are accredited with the Law Society Quality Conveyancing Scheme.  Remember, buying a home is likely to be your most expensive purchase ever, so don’t cut corners – we don’t!  For details of the likely costs involved click here.

But moving house is not the end of the matter. Most of our work comes from existing, satisfied clients and personal recommendations, so we are here to help with all your legal matters.

Answering your questions

What is conveyancing?

Conveyancing refers to the transfer of legal ownership in property law. Typically there are three main parts to the act of buying and selling a home:

  • Pre-contract work – once an offer is accepted on a property, the seller’s solicitor is responsible for the drawing up of a legal contract describing the property’s details, such as boundaries, sale price etc. Searches, surveys and other investigations are carried out. The buyer’s Solicitor will then make various additional enquiries and provide the buyer with a report.
  • Exchange of contracts – the seller and buyer sign and exchange legally binding contracts.  A deposit is usually paid.
  • Completion – money is transferred from the buyer to the seller, legal documents are transferred and keys are given to the buyer ready for them to move in to the property.
How long will the process take?

It is impossible to give a fixed time scale because it depends on a number of factors.  Each transaction is different.  Whilst we pride ourselves on offering an efficient service, the process can be held up by any number of issues:-

  • Local Authority searches taking longer than anticipated
  • Answers to enquires throwing up unforeseen issues
  • Delays with valuations, leading to delayed mortgage offers
  • Long chains and reliance on other transactions

We are only one cog in the wheel and will always do our best for you.  But it is important that you understand what can hold things up and always do your bit to ensure that the hold up is not with you.

I am selling – what documents do you need?

If you are selling your house it is really helpful if you get your documentation in order at the earliest possible opportunity – ideally before you have even found a buyer.  That way when you are completing the Property Information Form, or responding to the buyer’s Enquiries there will be no unnecessary delays.  The kinds of things you may need are:-

  • Planning permissions
  • Building Regulations consents
  • NHBC or New Build warranty documentation
  • Certificates relating to replacement windows, rewiring, gas appliances, boilers, wood burners etc
  • Any guarantees or warranties
  • Septic tank reports and certification documents
  • Private water supply risk assessment and maintenance records
  • If leasehold – management company and service charge documentation

Clearly the key to all of these matters is to maintain good and complete records. However, in the event that you are unable to provide evidence of all of these matters, there may be other options open such as obtaining Indemnity Insurance.

 

What does it cost?

Buying your home is likely to be the most expensive purchase you make.  That is why it is important that you get it right, and to do that you need to go to the right solicitors.  Cutting corners on costs, could lead to cutting corners on the process, which could lead to problems, stress and further costs down the line.  For that reason we do not offer “cheap conveyancing”.  For details see – Conveyancing costs

Don’t take our word for it