Selling a House Conveyancing Solicitors in Glasgow, Scotland

A property is a substantial purchase for any new buyer. As a result they will want to know not only what price the property is valued at, but also what kind of condition the property is in. As a seller, it is your responsibility to make this information available to buyers in what is called a Home Report.

The Home Report is made up of many different documents which detail different aspects of your property.  The most important aspects of the property that this will cover include:

• The price;
• The condition; and
• The energy efficiency of the property.

When you have prepared the Home Report, the next step is to start to advertise your property for sale. There are different ways that you can do this:

This is where you will advertise the property yourself, and will arrange to show people around your property on your own. While this option may look very attractive, it is important to understand that you will need to be able to provide details of the property to buyers on request. This is how the majorities of properties are sold. You will need to consider whether or not you are familiar with your local property market in terms of finalising a purchase price and arrange the necessary paperwork for a sale.

An alternative is to use a provider who will attempt to sell your property as quickly as possible. This may have consequences for the purchase price you can expect for your property: a company that promises to sell your property quickly may need to substantially reduce the asking price for your home to do so.

You could also consider using a Solicitor or Estate Agent department to market and sell your property.

When you have agreed a price at which to sell your home and it is advertised, the next step in the process will be receiving offers to buy. You may also want to consider fixing a closing date, for APR’s if there is more than one party interested in your house.

An offer to purchase your property will normally include not only a price that the buyer is willing to pay, but also a series of conditions e.g. date of entry or any changes that need to be made to the property before the buyer is willing to buy. It is important to understand that by law, a Solicitor needs to be involved in the process of accepting an offer to buy your home.

The sale of your property will not be completed until both you and the buyer, via each other’s Solicitors, have agreed the terms of the contact for the sale of your property. The Solicitors will also create a document that gives the buyer ownership of your property in exchange for the purchase price. This is called a ‘Disposition’.  Your Solicitor will deliver this and the keys of the property to the buyer, after which the sale will be completed.

An important point to remember is that in the process of completing the sale of your property, you will need to cover any outstanding financial payments. If you had a mortgage on your property which has not been paid off before the sale, you will need to arrange for this to be paid before the sale will be completed. Your Solicitor will be able to arrange this to be paid from the price that you accepted in selling your home.