What is Conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal transfer of a property from one owner to another. This can be done by a document such as a lease, deed or mortgage. The conveyancing process involves a conveyancing solicitor who acts on behalf of the their client in the selling, purchasing or re-mortgage of property.
Conveyancing is the entirety of the legal and administrative work required to ensure a property purchase, sale or re-mortgage is valid under law.
Here at Mulroy and Company Solicitors Galway we have many years of experience in a variety of conveyancing matters.
Therefore, if you are considering buying, selling or re-mortgaging property, please feel free to complete the form here. We will contact you as soon as possible with a detailed estimate.
What is involved in buying property?
When buying any type of property be it houses, sites, farms, apartments, shops, industrial buildings, etc your first point of call is contacting your conveyancing solicitor. It will be necessary for you to start this process by appointing a conveyancing solicitor who will provide you with a quotation of the costs involved.
Once you have decided on a property you wish to purchase, you will have to pay a booking deposit to the auctioneer.
When the booking deposit has been paid, the auctioneers usually sends an Advice Notice to the purchaser’s solicitors. On receipt of the Advice Notice from the auctioneers, the Vendor’s solicitor will draft contracts which will be sent to your conveyancing solicitor together with title documentation.
At this stage is important that you contact your lending institution to ensure your loan offer issues for the property you propose purchasing. When the loan offer has issued your lending institution will send a loan pack to your conveyancing solicitor.
Your solicitor will then prepare the mortgage documents to be signed by you. They will also advise you on the loan offer including any special conditions which you may have to comply with prior to signing the contracts.
It is advisable to employ an Engineer when you purchase a property. The Engineer will ensure that the property is structurally sound. Remember you may have no recourse against the Vendor in the event of any structural problems arising if you have not employed an Engineer to carry out an examination. An Engineer can also inspect the boundaries of the property. Again you are purchasing the property with full knowledge of any difficulties which may arise in relation to its boundaries.
The next step in purchasing property is for the signing of the contracts. Once your Solicitor is satisfied that the title to the property is in order and that your are in a position to comply with all conditions in your loan offer, you should be in a position to sign contracts and pay the balance of the deposit. The signed contracts will then be returned to the Vendor’s solicitor who will arrange for them to be signed by the Vendors.
At this stage your conveyancing solicitor will raise Requisitions on Title, which is a set of queries dealing with the property you are purchasing. Once these queries are dealt with by the Vendor’s solicitor, arrangements will be made to complete the purchase of the property.
Once a closing date is agreed, your Solicitor will arrange to drawdown your loan cheque from your bank or lending institution.
The closing of the purchase of the property will include various searches against both the property and the Vendor. This is to ensure there are no judgements or burdens registered on the property, which adversely affect you. Once your Solicitor confirms that the documents are in order and there are no matters appearing on the searches which give rise to concern, your Solicitor will pay over the balance of the purchase monies. Then the Vendor’s Solicitor will either furnish your Solicitor with the keys or contact the Auctioneer with a view to having the keys released to you.
When the transaction is completed, the Deed transferring the property into your name must be signed by you, the Purchaser. On the completion of the transaction, Mulroy and Company Solicitors Galway will have the Deed transferring the property into your name stamped by the Revenue Commissioners.
On stamping of the documents by the Revenue Commissioners, your Solicitor will proceed to have the property registered in your name in the Land Registry or the Registry of Deeds.
Once the registration of the property is completed, your solicitor will schedule your title documents and forward them to your lending institution, who will hold them on your behalf, until such time as you require them, either for the sale or the re-mortgage of the property.
For full details relating to purchasing property see here. If you would like to know the costs involved in purchasing a house click here.
What is involved selling your Property?
When selling any type of property be it houses, sites, farms, apartments, shops, industrial buildings, etc your first point of call is contacting your conveyancing solicitor. This enables them to organise obtaining your title documentation from your bank with which you hold a mortgage over the property (if applicable).
Once a booking deposit is paid by the proposed purchaser, your auctioneer will prepare an Advice Notice which will then be sent to your solicitor. The Advice Notice will have the details of the proposed buyer which will be necessary to your conveyancing solicitor so they can prepare contracts.
Once the contracts are prepared your solicitor will send them to the proposed purchaser to be signed and the full deposit will be paid at this time.
When the contracts are returned from the purchaser’s solicitors, your solicitor will arrange an appointment for you to sign the contracts together with any other ancillary documentation. Once both parties have signed the contracts, you are bound to complete the transaction. At this stage of the conveyancing transaction your solicitor will be in correspondence with the purchaser’s solicitors in respect of all aspects of the property. In this regard you may be asked to clarify any questions relating to the maintenance and management of the property.
If you property is subject to a mortgage your solicitor will need to contact your lending institution to obtain up to date redemption figures so there is no delay in discharging the existing loan when the sale is completed.
At the completion of the buyer’s solicitor arranges an appointment with your solicitor with a view of closing the sale of your property, your solicitor will arrange to discharge your existing loan and furnish the balance sale of proceeds to you.
The final stage of the selling process if for your solicitor to prepare a Statement of Account. This is a breakdown of all monies received and paid on your behalf, together with a bill of costs and outlays.
For the steps involved in selling property you can read more here. Click here if you want to get a quotation on selling your house.
What are the steps involved in re-mortgaging your property?
It is important, when re-mortgaging your property that you contact your conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. This enables your solicitor to organise to obtain the deeds of your property from the bank with which you hold your existing mortgage. You will have to sign a document called a Form of Authority to authorise your solicitor to obtain your deeds.
Once your Bank/Lending Institution approves you for your loan, a formal loan pack will be sent to your solicitor. On receipt of your deeds from your previous Bank/Lending Institution, your solicitor will be in a position to prepare the new loan documentation for signing.
Once your conveyancing solicitor has checked the mortgage documents and the Loan Offer, he will contact you to arrange an appointment with a view to signing the documents. They will then arrange to return the documents to your new Bank/Lending Institution. It may be necessary to obtain Life Assurance on your new loan and it is important that you deal with this as soon as possible. A delay with the issue of the Life Policy will result in a delay in drawing down your new loan.
When your new loan cheque issues, your solicitor, having obtained the amount due on your old loan, will pay off the old loan.
Your conveyancing solicitor will then prepare a Statement of Account. This gives a breakdown of the amount received, the amount paid out including the amount to pay off your own loan and any costs or outlays involved.
Your solicitor will then lodge your new mortgage documents with the Property Registration Authority and have your old mortgage removed as a burden on your property. On the completion of the registration of your new loan, your conveyancing solicitor will then forward your title deeds to your new lending institution. The bank will hold them on your behalf until such time as you require them again.
For more information on re-mortgaging your property, see here. Want to know the costs involved in re-mortgaging your property, see here.
Mulroy and Company Conveyancing Solicitors Galway are here to help. Please do not hesitate to telephone us at 091 – 586760 or email us to discuss conveyancing your property.