At DFA Law, we provide a tailored and personal service in all areas of residential property. You will deal with the same property lawyer (or their assistant) throughout the process and will not therefore experience a ‘call-centre’ type of service.

Our fixed fee quotes contain no hidden fees and we view our clients as people, not commodities.

During a typical sale transaction, DFA will do the following:

Title check and documentation

Soon after receiving your instructions we will obtain office copy entries from the Land Registry which is the official document that proves the legal owner of the property.

Please note, the process will be slightly different if the property is unregistered, which accounts for around 5% of properties in England and Wales.

If necessary, we will also obtain planning permissions and/or building regulation certificates, which the buyer’s solicitors will need to see in due course.

Drafting the contract

We will draft the sale contract which includes details about the property, such as the title number, price etc.

The contract is then sent to the buyer’s legal representatives for their review.

Respond to Enquiries

Your buyer’s solicitors will usually raise a number of standard enquiries in relation to the property. Should there be any additional enquiries we will discuss these with you and respond to the other side on your behalf.

Estate agent

If you have used an estate agent to sell your house, we will keep in regular contact them with the status of your matter and provide relevant updates throughout.

Exchange of contracts

Until there has been an ‘exchange of contracts’ between you and the buyer, there is no legal obligation on either party to complete the transaction.

Once we are satisfied that there are sufficient funds to be able to redeem all outstanding legal charges, such as a mortgage, we will prepare the matter ready for ‘exchange’ on your behalf.

Completion

The completion date is agreed at ‘exchange’. On the day of completion, and upon receipt of the purchase monies from the buyer’s conveyancers/solicitors, we will release the keys to the buyers, repay all outstanding charges and account to you for the proceeds of sale, which is usually either sent by way of electronic payment or used to purchase your new home.

Throughout the sale process we will act in your best interests at all times and provide the necessary legal advice and support needed from the beginning to the end of the transaction.