Ensure your home sale is as safe as houses

SELLING a house is not always a simple process, but it can become even more complicated and expensive if the initial sale falls through. With the difficulties in finding a buyer in the current climate, once you have accepted an offer, you want to do everything possible to make sure your sale goes through to completion.
There are many reasons for aborted sales. These include difficulties for the buyer securing a mortgage, job insecurity, nervous buyers and chain-related problems. However, many of these can be resolved by speeding up the sale, giving buyers less time to change their minds or indeed, for their circumstances to change.
To help ensure your sale is as safe as houses 1st Property Lawyers offer their top tips to make your transaction as smooth as possible.
1. Get your finances in place
If you’re also planning to buy, sorting out your funds should be one of the very first things you do before you consider putting your property on the market. Not knowing the state of your finances could slow down the entire process when it comes to budgeting and making payments.
Top tip — Make a list of all the potential costs associated with your move, taking into account estate agent’s commission, mortgage arrangement fees (particularly if you are looking to port your mortgage), stamp duty, conveyancing (including all disbursements), and removal costs.
2. A picture can capture a thousand words
Make sure all photos taken of your property do it justice and show it to its full potential. Tidy away clutter and ensure the exterior of your home is presentable. Painting exterior frames and doors and having your windows cleaned can be an instant improvement and give a lasting first impression.
Top tip — Have your photos taken on a nice sunny day to really show off your home and help market it to prospective buyers.
3. Be honest
Be upfront and honest about any defects with your home from the start so that your buyer really does know what they are buying — that way there are no nasty surprises in the survey that could make them change their mind further down the line.
Top tip — Being honest and helpful with your buyer reduces the chances of them pulling out of the sale or asking for a discount right at the last minute.
4. Choose the right conveyancer
You need to ensure that you have chosen a conveyancer who will keep moving the process along and chase other parties. You don’t want someone you have to chase as the chances are your buyer’s solicitor will be having to chase them too!
Top tip — Ask friends or family members to recommend a conveyancer that they’ve had a good experience with.
5. Return your documents quickly
Don’t be the one holding up the rest of the chain. Make sure that you complete and return any documents needed from you in a timely manner so that the process can run as smoothly as possible.
Top tip — Try and use email or go online where possible — not only does this save time but also saves money on postal costs.
Mark Montgomery, commercial director for 1st Property Lawyers, advises: “Selling a house doesn’t have to be a difficult process and there is a number of measures you can take to ensure that your property sale is as smooth as possible. Choosing the right people to help you with your sale, from estate agent to conveyancer, can make all the difference between a sale or no sale.”
Source http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/