Conveyancing is the process of transference of title or legal ownership of a property. The process requires extensive paperwork and a minimum time of three months. A contract detailing on the price, boundaries and restrictions of any sort regarding the property must be drawn up by the seller and in turn the buyer will draw up another contract making his offer. The whole process needs to be supervised by solicitors.

Three stages of conveyancing

Although different jurisdictions have different rules and regulations for the transference to be carried out, a typical conveyancing has the following stages-

1. The pre-contract stage:
   This is the longest stage and involves huge amounts of paperwork.
   1. A solicitor works as your representative regardless you’re the buyer or the seller.
   2. The seller’s solicitor must prepare a draft contract which will include the details of both parties, details of prices and details of the seller’s title deeds (legal documents acting as the evidence of a person’s legal ownership of a property).
   3. The buyer’s solicitor must go through the documents meticulously and raise requisitions with the seller’s solicitor to resolve the problems that he/she found in the draft contract.
   4. The buyer’s solicitor needs to gather as much information as possible about the property by conducting relevant pre-contract searches.
   5. The buyer’s solicitor then needs to make arrangements to carry out the transaction in financial terms. He/she may ask the buyer to sign a mortgage deed.
   6. The next step is the exchange of contracts between the buyer and the seller which points toward a binding contract. The buyer usually has to pay a deposit on this occasion.
2. The post-contract stage:
   This stage is much less hectic.
   1. The buyer’s solicitor has to make a draft purchase deed and send it to the seller’s solicitor. Once, the terms in the deed have been approved by the receiver, a copy is made and signed by both parties.
   2. The buyer’s solicitor needs to set up a mortgage loan to pay for the property and the seller’s solicitor needs to fix with the seller’s lender the amount of money required to discharge the seller’s mortgage on the property (if present).
   3. In the final step known as the completion, the seller’s solicitor receives the money from the buyer and sends the deeds to the buyer’s solicitor.
3. The post-completion stage:
   1. Upon receiving the receipt of mortgage discharge from the seller’s solicitor, the buyer’s solicitor needs to pay the land taxes that are due on the property.
   2. The buyer’s solicitor needs to apply for land registration.

Keep in mind-

1. Solicitors usually charge high fees due to their constant involvement in the case so it is best to choose fixed fee Conveyancing
2. One can choose to hire a licensed conveyancer instead of a solicitor but the costs will be about the same.
3. It is not necessary to hire a solicitor from the local authority.