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Our specialist team of residential property lawyers offer years of experience in helping clients with all property-related matters. The team is accredited by the Law Society’s Lexcel and conveyancing quality standards and includes:
Residential Conveyancing Solicitors
Whether you’re buying, selling or remortgaging a property, the process doesn’t come without its difficulties. If you’re climbing the property ladder or making your first step on to it, this is undoubtedly an exciting time. With the right conveyancing solicitor on your side, you can focus on enjoying this moment whilst our professionals handle the stress.
At Smith Partnership, we help to ensure your property sale, purchase or remortgage is as hassle-free as possible.
How we can help you
Our dedicated residential property team has years of experience in guiding individuals, couples and families through all aspects of a property transaction. We can help you with:
- Selling a property
- Buying a property
- Remortgaging
- Transfers of equity
- Deeds of Gift
No matter how simple or complex your transaction is, our team is on hand to help you with the same level of care and dedication to take some of the pressure off you.
Buying or selling a house
Whether you’re buying your first house or selling a property to move your growing family into a larger home, enlisting the expertise of a dedicated conveyancing team can ensure the transaction runs smoothly.
Guiding you through the entire process confidently and in the most straightforward way possible, our conveyancing solicitors offer the experience and know-how you need to reach an efficient completion date.
Remortgaging advice
Many homeowners opt to remortgage their property for a variety of reasons. Although a common process, the many legal considerations involved can appear daunting. Whatever your circumstances, our specialist team of residential property solicitors can help you overcome the challenges.
As well as helping you to complete the necessary legal documentation, our team can also advise on the various remortgaging processes available. With our experts on your side, you will also have access to our unrivalled links to reliable and trusted independent financial advisers, who carry out extensive searches to find the ideal remortgaging plan for you.
Contact us for more information, or for a free quote.
Transfer of Equity
Whatever your reasons may be, changing the co-ownership status of a property is an important decision that sometimes needs to be made. For instance, you may be in a position where you want to add a spouse to a deed after getting married, remove an ex-partner after divorcing, adjust ownership share percentages or strategically reduce future inheritance tax liabilities.
Although not a complex process, seeking the right legal advice can make all the difference in how efficiently the job is completed. Our dedicated team can:
- Advise on the necessary documents required to get the process started
- Review title and property deeds
- Confirm identities of all parties involved
- Prepare the transfer of equity deed
- Liaise with mortgage lenders to obtain written consent of their approval of the transfer
Deed of Gift
Gifting a property involves transferring ownership to another person. Reasons for doing this may include estate and Inheritance Tax planning or wanting to see a child benefit from the gift in your lifetime. Whatever your circumstances, our specialist residential property solicitors have experience in supporting clients through every step of the process, including drafting, witnessing and advising on any tax implications.
Why Choose Smith Partnership?
Our residential property team has a breadth of experience which enables us to deal with each matter effectively. There is rarely a complexity that we haven’t encountered before. We draw from this experience to tailor our advice to meet your needs, making the moving process as efficient as possible.
Each case is dealt with by a dedicated member of the team, so you’ll always be sure of who to turn to if you have any questions or concerns. Throughout the process, we offer face-to-face meetings as well as regular, transparent updates via telephone calls and emails to ensure you’re always kept in the loop.
As a firm, we pride ourselves in providing straightforward, jargon-free advice at all times. However, if there is ever a time where you are unsure, our accessible and responsive team will be more than happy to help.
FAQs
Should I get a survey?
Yes. The contract provides that the seller has no liability to you for the condition of the property. If after exchange of contracts you discover that repairs were necessary then you would have no claim against the seller. If you have a mortgage, the mortgage company will insist on a basic valuation being carried out. However this only protects your Lender. It is therefore not recommended that you rely upon the valuation report alone because the condition of the property is not considered in detail. We would recommend that you obtain a more detailed inspection known as a Home Buyers Report. We can recommend surveyors in the local area who can do this for you.
What searches are carried out and when?
On your purchase, searches are carried out at 2 stages: pre-exchange and pre-completion.
The pre-exchange searches undertaken are with public bodies e.g. the Local Authority, Drainage Authority, Environment Agency etc.
These searches reveal information about the property such as any planning restrictions, tree preservation orders, local developments which may affect the property, whether or not the property is connected to mains water and drainage.
Pre-completion searches are carried out at the Land Registry and Plymouth Land Charges Department.
Dependent on where a property is and any specific lender requirements, additional searches may be required e.g. Coal Mining, Flood Risk. We will advise you of any additional searches that are required.
Why do I need to show you evidence of my identity?
Identification will be needed in order to complete either a sale or a purchase. This is to comply with Money Laundering Regulations, which stipulate that we must obtain evidence of a client’s identity. We will need, for each owner of the property, a valid passport as well as a recent utility bill.
Are there any hidden costs?
No, there are no hidden costs associated with our conveyancing service. We will provide you with a fixed legal fee to cover the work. We will only ever increase the fee, if, during the transaction, something comes to light which was unforeseen. If this did happen, we would discuss this with you before incurring extra charges.
How long will it take to complete the conveyancing process on a sale/purchase?
It is very difficult to give an average timescale for a conveyancing transaction. We would usually expect a transaction to take between six to eight weeks to reach an exchange with another one to two weeks for completion, making a total of eight to ten weeks. However, much of the timing is outside of our control. You should not make any final arrangements for moving or give notice on any temporary accommodation until contracts have been exchanged and a definite completion date has been agreed.
