After accepting an offer
Your estate agent will confirm the agreed sale and circulate a memorandum of sale to the relevant parties. Your solicitor then prepares the contract documentation for the buyer’s solicitor.
The buyer will normally progress their mortgage, arrange a survey and instruct their solicitor to begin searches and legal investigations.
Sold Subject to Contract, often shortened to SSTC, means an offer has been accepted but contracts have not yet been exchanged.
The transaction is progressing, but it is not yet legally binding.
A memorandum of sale records the basic details of the agreed transaction, usually including the property, agreed price, buyer, seller and their respective solicitors.
It allows the professionals involved to make contact and begin the conveyancing process. It is not itself a legally binding contract for the sale.
A straightforward transaction might complete within a few months, but there is no guaranteed timescale. Chains, mortgages, surveys, leasehold information, searches and legal enquiries can all affect progress.
The important factor is often not the theoretical average but how prepared each party in the chain is and how effectively the transaction is managed.
At Ashtons, we have a team of 4 people solely dedicated to progressing sales from sale agreed through to completion. This minimises stress and speeds up the process as we can review every single property chain's progress every week.
Also, if you choose to use our Assured Move product, we can, on average, reduce the time it takes by 50%. Rightmove states the UK average is 150 days from sale agreed to completion whereas at Ashtons it's currently just 62 days.
A chain occurs when one transaction depends upon another. For example, your buyer may need to sell their home to buy yours, while you need to buy another property with the proceeds of your sale.
The longer the chain, the more parties there are whose circumstances can influence the timing of everybody else’s move.
Your solicitor handles the legal work, but our sales management team will work alongside your solicitor to speed the process up as much as possible.
This involves communicating with the buyer, seller, solicitors, mortgage advisers and other agents in the chain, identifying delays and helping the parties find solutions.
Sam Ward, who heads up Ashtons' client experience team added: “Good sales progression can be every bit as important as finding the buyer in the first place. At Ashtons, we have four experienced personnel solely dedicated to following sales through from sale agreed to completion, swiftly and diligently. Our clients tell us this is one of the most valuable elements of our post-sale service for both reducing anxiety and speeding up the process.”
Instruct your solicitor early, complete forms promptly and provide requested documents without delay. If you are buying as well as selling, arrange your mortgage and survey quickly.
Responding quickly is important, but preparation is even better. Many delays arise because documents or information that could have been obtained earlier are only discovered once a buyer is waiting.
Even better, make sure you sign up for our exclusive Assured Move product at the time of listing your property for sale.
The buyer may simply accept the findings, seek specialist advice or ask to renegotiate the price.
A survey issue does not automatically justify a reduction. Consider the seriousness of the problem, whether it was already reflected in the agreed price and the likely cost of putting it right before deciding how to respond.
Until exchange of contracts, a buyer can normally withdraw.
Your agent should establish why the transaction has failed, contact other previously interested buyers where appropriate and advise how best to return the property to the market. If there is an onward chain, everyone should be informed quickly so that alternative solutions can be explored.
