Selling A Property

The sale of a property often signifies a period of change in a person’s life. We will expertly guide you through the sale process to ensure that it is as straightforward and stress free as possible, leaving you to think about the more important things – like finding somewhere new to live! 

How we can help 

We can assist with every type of residential sale transaction, from the sale of your student flat to the sale of your family home.  

At the outset of every sale transaction, we will provide you with a fixed rate fee quotation along with a note of all estimated outlays. There are no hidden costs involved and we will always keep you advised of any unexpected outlays. This gives you the ability to budget for your legal fees and outlays in advance of the completion of the sale. 

Often, the sale of a property coincides with the purchase of a new one. At Oracle, we guarantee that you will deal with the same solicitor for both your purchase and sale transactions. This provides you with a high level of continuity, personal service and allows your solicitor to provide you with advice with the benefit of having an insight into both transactions.   

Outlined below are a number of aspects of the sale transaction in which we will assist. Throughout the course of your transaction, you will be advised by a solicitor who will answer any questions you may have. 

We can help with:-

• Liaising with the estate agent– We have formed good relationships with our local estate agents, and we will liaise with them to ensure that we remain up to date on the level of interest your property is receiving. This is particularly important when you intend to purchase a new property which is dependent on the sale of your current home.
• Providing advice on the Scottish Standard Clauses – The Scottish Standard Clauses are incorporated within the terms of most residential sale transactions and will form part and parcel of the missives. We will send you a copy of the Scottish Standard Clauses and talk you through those that are relevant to your transaction. We will provide advice on what additions or deletions may be advisable in your individual circumstances. 
• Preparing an acceptance to the offer– Once an offer has been received for your property it is essential that a full and comprehensive acceptance is issued in order to progress missives. At this stage we will arrange a meeting, either in person or over the telephone, in order that we may take your detailed instructions on the offer. This will involve taking you through the terms of the offer and discussing the clauses contained therein. We will also request information about the history of the property and any alterations or additions to the property. 
• Responding to observations – Once the buyer’s solicitor has had the chance to read over our written acceptance and the title to the property, they will produce a list of questions (known as observations) about the property. With your assistance, we will respond to these observations, disclosing things such as planning applications by neighbours, any neighbour disputes or arrangements for maintaining common areas.
• Ordering searches over the property – As your conveyancers, we will order searches over your property that will give the buyers further insight into the property. The searches disclose things like standard securities or notices registered against the title to the property, all local authority and building standards points of interest and, if required, a report disclosing any and all relevant information from the coal authority. The searches over the property can often disclose some unexpected information about the property and we will work to overcome any unexpected entries within the searches and find a solution to move forward.
• Correspond with the local authority, factors and residents’ associations – We will correspond with the local authority, factors and residents’ associations if required. Quite often where alterations or additions have been carried out to your property, we will require to liaise with the local authority to obtain a complete set of alterations documentation. We take the stress out of this process by contacting the local authority on your behalf. In addition, we will write to your factor to obtain all relevant information surrounding maintenance and repair of the common areas.
• Preparing to discharge your mortgage – If you have a mortgage over your property, we will arrange to have same discharged upon completion of the sale. This involves the preparation of a discharge Deed which will be sent to your lender for signature and thereafter registered in the Land Register of Scotland upon completion of the sale. We will also make direct contact with your lender to obtain the full and final sum due under your mortgage as at the date of sale and we will remit all sums due to the lender after completion in order to redeem your loan in full. 
• Financial Calculations – Prior to completion of the sale we will provide you with a cash statement showing the “free proceeds” of the sale. The free proceeds comprise the balance due to be sent to you after settlement after your mortgage has been redeemed and after the payment of all legal fees and outlays, including estate agency fees etc. This step is of particular importance if you are completing an onward purchase. This allows you to know how much of the sale price of your property you will have to use toward the purchase of your new home. 
• Completing the transaction on the date of entry – On the date of entry you should ensure that at least one set of keys for the property are with the estate agent early in the morning. Any remaining sets you have should be posted through the letterbox when you vacate the property. Once we have the balance of the purchase price in our account, we will phone you to let you know that the transaction has completed. We will then phone the estate agent to authorise them to release the keys to the buyer. You should attempt to vacate your property by lunch time if possible, to avoid any delays in the handover of properties.
• Porting your mortgage (if required) – In some instances where you intend to buy and sell your properties on the same day it is more economical to “port” the mortgage you already have with your lender over to the new property. With some lenders this will allow you to avoid being stung by early repayment charges. This is something that we can assist you with if you choose to proceed in this way.
• Redeeming your loan and having same discharged – On the date of completion of your sale, or as soon as practical thereafter, we shall have the full sum required to redeem your loan sent to your lender, ensuring that your mortgage is fully repaid.
• Reclaiming Additional Dwelling Supplement (if applicable) – If you have paid Additional Dwelling Supplement on the purchase of a property, in some circumstances, this can be refunded by Revenue Scotland. The refund is not automatic and must be specifically applied for. After completion of your sale, we can assist you with the reclaim of the Additional Dwelling Supplement by completing the forms and submitting same to Revenue Scotland on your behalf.  

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We will assist in all of the above and every other aspect of your sale. We ensure that you remain updated throughout the process and, where applicable, will be informed of the way in which the progression of your sale affects the progression of your purchase.  

If you are considering selling a property and would like to talk to one of our team, please call us on 0141 404 1091.