Answers to questions often asked:

Q. How long does it take?

Q. Can I pull out of my Sale/Purchase?

Q. If we do have to pay a deposit, when is it payable?

Q. On my Sale, when will I receive the sale money?

Q. How much does it cost?

Q. Do we have to pay a deposit?

Q. Do we pay a deposit on the Sale?

Q. When do I pay the Legal Fees?

Q. Where do I collect the keys from?

Q. Do Heer Manak do surveys?

Q. How early on completion day can I get the keys?

Q. You have my search money but haven't sent off the searches, Why not?

 Q. How long does it take?

A. The average conveyance takes between 6-8 weeks to complete, i.e., from giving instructions to moving in. Being in a chain can slow things down as the whole chain can only move as fast as the slowest link.

 Q. Can I pull out of my Sale/Purchase?

A. You can withdraw from the transaction at any time before exchange of contracts. This means that as a purchaser you could lose money spent on a survey and searches even though it may not be your fault that the transaction has fallen through. After exchange of contracts both parties are legally committed to complete the transaction.

 Q. If we do have to pay a deposit, when is it payable?

A. The deposit is handed over when we exchange contracts, so your solicitor will need to have cleared funds by then - i.e. any cheque will need to have cleared before the deposit can be used.

 Q. On my Sale, when will I receive the sale money?

A. This will be sent to you on the day of completion. If you are purchasing as well then the sale proceeds are used towards the purchase price of your new property and any residue will be sent to you on the day of completion.

 Q. How much does it cost?

A. Find out now, by getting an instant quote (link).

 Q. Do we have to pay a deposit?
A. You will have to pay a deposit if you are a First Time Buyer. Normally this is 10% of the purchase price.

You can agree with the sellers solicitor to pay less (they will usually agree this if you are borrowing more than 90% of the purchase price). Normally you do not have to provide a deposit if you have a sale and a purchase.

This is because you can use the deposit from your sale towards your purchase. If this deposit a lot less than the 10% deposit required on your purchase then you may be asked to make up the difference.

There are no fixed guidelines on this and it will be down to the seller and purchaser and their solicitors.

 Q. Do we pay a deposit on the Sale?

A. No. A deposit is paid by the Buyer's solicitors to the Seller's solicitors when contracts are exchanged.

 Q. When do I pay the Legal Fees?

A. You will need to pay some money up front. This is £200.00 to cover the cost of searches. The rest of the money will be requested from you after exchange and before completion.

 Q. Where do I collect the keys from?

A. Generally the estate agents where you saw the property will be holding the keys. If there is no estate agent involved it would be best to contact the seller directly and make plans to collect the keys on the day of completion.

 Q. Do Heer Manak do surveys?

A. No, but we recommend that you have an independent survey in the property that you want to buy. We can advise you on a suitable surveyor.

 Q. How early on completion day can I get the keys?

A. On completion day the purchase monies are sent (from the buyers solicitors to the sellers solicitors) through the Bank's telegraphic system.

This is network of computers dealing with thousands of transactions every day.

On some days the money can take as little as half an hour to come through, on other days it can take between 4-6 hours. The Sellers Solicitors cannot release the keys until they have received the money.

This is the reason that some people complete mid-morning and others by mid-afternoon.

 Q. You have my search money but haven't sent off the searches, Why not?

A. Some local authorities are not able to carry out a search against the property until they have a plan of the property. We obtain a plan from the Seller's solicitors.

There is a potential delay here as the seller's solicitors will be waiting for the title deeds and can only send us a plan once they have the deeds.

Some local authorities will do a search without a plan but this is down to each local authority.

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