What Is Conveyancing? Understanding Property Sales in Ireland
Conveyancing is a term that comes up when someone is buying or selling a property. Often, people will only hear the word for the first time when purchasing a property and can be unsure what the word means, or what the conveyancing process actually involves.
In our in-depth guide, we look at what conveyancing is, the steps involved in the conveyancing process, why it’s important, and why choosing the right solicitor can be crucial whether you’re buying or selling a property.
What is Conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring property ownership from one person to another. The conveyancing process starts when a seller accepts an offer on a property; and ends when your ownership has completed registration in the Land Registry.
Purchasing a property can be a technical process and involves preparing, reviewing and managing all the necessary legal documentation to ensure that the sale is legally binding and the rights of both parties are protected. All of this falls under conveyancing. When buying or selling a property, it’s important to consult an experienced conveyancing solicitor to manage the transaction as any errors can be costly in the long term, and affect both your finances and your home life.
Proper conveyancing is essential to:
- Ensure that property title is clean and that there are no legal disputes or claims against the property.
- Verify that all financial aspects are settled and that there are no outstanding fees such as mortgages and property taxes.
- Ensure all transactions comply with property laws and regulations.
What Are The Steps in The Conveyancing Process?
Initial Instructions:
The conveyancing process begins when an offer is accepted by the seller. At this point, it is highly important to consult an experienced solicitor who can manage the transaction. They will request initial details about the property and the buyer will be required to pay a booking deposit to secure the property.
The solicitor will then instruct the seller’s solicitor to send the contracts so they can be reviewed to ensure that everything is in order.
Property Searches & Enquiries:
Next your solicitor will carry out various checks to ensure that there are no legal or planning issues and will review the contracts in light of your engineers report to ensure that there are no discrepancies.
Once the contracts have been signed by both parties, the buyer must accept the property in the condition it’s presented so it’s crucial that this step be completed to protect the buyer. This involves checking there are no legal complications such as verifying the seller’s ownership of the property, reviewing title deeds and investigating any rights of way or planning permissions.
Local authority searches and surveys should be undertaken to identify any issues or risks; while a full structural check should also be carried out by a qualified engineer – something your solicitor can help to arrange.
Preparing Contracts:
Once the required checks and searches have been completed, your solicitor will review or draft the contract. The contract should outline clearly the terms, including the agreed sale price, deposit and the completion date. Your contract will also include any special conditions related to the sale of the property.
Exchange of Contracts
Once both parties are satisfied with the contract, it can be signed and exchanged. At this point, the agreement becomes legally binding, and the agreed balance deposit is typically paid.
Prior to the exchange, both sets of solicitors will review the contract and agree on any amendments (if necessary). And your solicitor will advise on what happens after you sign the contract. When both parties have signed, a completion date is set for when the property will officially change hands.
Completion & Registration:
The last step in the conveyancing process occurs on the agreed date of completion.
Your solicitor will conduct final checks to make sure that everything is in order and arrange for the transfer of remaining funds to the seller; and organise the transfer of legal ownership of the property and the hand over of keys to the buyer. After completion, your solicitor will arrange for the payment of stamp duty (if applicable) and register the new ownership and mortgage (if any) with the Land Registry to close out the conveyancing
