Starting Off Once terms of a sale have been agreed, the Seller's solicitors will obtain the Property's ownership documents and prepare the Contract and package of papers to send to the Buyer's solicitors. Early on the Buyer's solicitors apply to the Local Authority for a Search. This will reveal if there are any matters that may affect the Property such as road building proposals or planning restrictions. Enquiries Enquiries about the Property are raised of the Seller and the Seller's solicitors to reveal if there are any matters such as neighbour disputes or financial obligations that affect the Property's ownership. An inventory of what fixtures or fittings are included in the purchase price is also obtained. The buyer's solicitors will examine the title to the Property to check that there are no onerous or adverse conditions. They will also check any restrictive covenants preventing the owner from certain actions, and any rights affecting Property. Where the property you are buying is a leasehold flat, it will be necessary to review full details of the service charges for the maintenance and management of the building. Exchanging Contracts Once the title of the Property has been checked and the terms of the Contract agreed, we report on the terms and conditions of the purchase. The buyer's mortgage offer will need to have been received before Contracts can be exchanged. If there is a chain of properties that are dependent on each other, all parties in the chain must agree on a completion date. When everybody is ready to proceed Contracts will be exchanged simultaneously. It is common for a 10% deposit to be paid at exchange of Contracts. Often, a lower deposit can be negotiated. Completing the Deal Between exchange and completion, Land Registry final searches are carried out to prevent any adverse registrations being made. During this period, the final Transfer document is prepared for the Seller to sign. Any mortgage documents need to be signed prior to completion. On the day of completion, the balance of the purchase price is paid to the Sellers Solicitors and the keys of the property can be collected. After completion, the buyer's solicitors attend to the registration of title at H M Land Registry. Once this is concluded, the original documents are sent to the Buyer or their Mortgage Lender.