A Solicitor-Based
Property Selling Service
Description & Terms
Manchesters Solicitors was founded in 1979
by Richard Manchester, who remains as consultant to the firm.
We are now pleased to be able to offer a
professional service combining both aspects of selling a property all under one
roof.
Please take time to read through this
Information Pack and contact us to discuss our terms further or arrange a free
valuation of your property.
020 8657 5599
email:
enquiries@manchesters.co.uk www.manchesters.co.uk
19/21 Limpsfield Road, Sanderstead, South
Croydon, Surrey CR2 9LA
Regulated By The Solicitors Regulation Authority
Contents
Information For Sellers 3
Terms of Engagement : Sole Agency/ Multi-Agents 4
Legal Work On Sale 7
Information For Applicants 8
Legal Services 9
Information For
Sellers
q SOLE
AGENCY : FROM 1% SALE COMMISSION AND
CONVEYANCING ALL INCLUSIVE (PLUS VAT)
q MULTIPLE AGENCY : Will be
agreed based on value (PLUS VAT – UNLESS OTHERWISE AGREED) SALE COMMISSION AND CONVEYANCING
ALL INCLUSIVE
q NO
COMPLETION : NO CONVEYANCING CHARGES
q STREAMLINED
SELLING
q LEGAL
CARE FROM OUTSET
q ENERGY
PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE
q OFFICE
WINDOW DISPLAY
q LOCAL
PRESS ADVERTISING
q INTERNET
ADVERTISING WITH RIGHTMOVE.CO.UK
Terms Of
Engagement : Sole Agency
PLEASE COMPLETE
Date………………………………………………………
Name :
Property Address :
Interest to be sold : Freehold/Leasehold/Commonhold
Percentage Rate : %
Agency
Terms :
Sole/Multi
1. If you instruct us we will:
q Display
a photograph of your property in our office window;
q Advertise your property in a local paper;
q Advertise your property on the internet;
q Prepare property particulars to hand to applicants;
q Prepare a "Seller's Pack";
q Erect a sale board (unless you specify otherwise);
and
q Carry out the legal work on the sale (AS SPECIFIED
ON THE ATTACHED SHEET)
2. Our fee for this work is based on the ultimate sale
price and is from % (sole agency). The fee is divided as to 0.25% of the fee for the legal work and
the remainder for the commission on sale. VAT and payments to others are
payable in addition, in particular the Land Registry fee for office copies
(approximately £8). We will notify you in advance of the amount of any further
payments to others which may arise. You
are liable for our fee only if the sale proceeds to completion, when it is
deductible by us from the sale proceeds. These fees are exclusive of legal
disbursements and apply only if you instruct us both to seek a buyer and to do
the legal work on the sale. If you wish us to act also on a related purchase,
we will gladly provide an estimate.
3. We will not act for anyone but you (except where we
also act for another party in the chain of transactions who is not an immediate
party to your transaction). Where information comes to our notice affecting a
transaction we are at liberty to reveal this to any client of ours. When
repaying a mortgage we may also act for the lender.
4. The solicitor named below will do the work although
he may be assisted in the search for a buyer and in the more clerical aspects.
If at any time you feel your needs are not being met, please do not hesitate to
contact that solicitor or the other partner named below, since it is important
that your concerns are dealt with promptly and efficiently. In accordance with
Law Society policy, we operate a complaints procedure, details of which are
available on request.
5. Sole Agency – we are instructed on
a “sole agency”, that is to say for a minimum period [ ] 12 weeks from
today you will not instruct anyone else to seek a buyer. We are entitled to our
fee if you complete a sale of your property to a person who first views the
property during the sole agency. We
will be entitled to our fee if a sale takes place to an applicant introduced or
re-introduced to the property via any other agent or privately during the sole
agency period. After that time we are
only entitled to our fee if the applicant first becomes interested as a result
of our efforts in 1 above or with whom we had negotiations about the property
and which interest leads to the applicant completing a purchase of the
Property. You should be aware that this
may result in other agents’ fees becoming payable in addition but we take no
responsibility for determining at any stage whether you may become liable to
pay another agent’s fee in addition to our own and we recommend that you seek
independent legal advice on that prior to entering into a binding contract for
sale. Subject to this minimum period
you may terminate the sole agency by written notice and the Sole Agency will
come to an end on the fourteenth day after we receive the notice.
During any such time as a sale has been negotiated
subject to contract and in our reasonable opinion the buyer genuinely continues
negotiations with a view to exchanging contracts as soon as can be expected,
the period of the sole agency (or multi-agency if there has been a conversion
under 6 below) will be suspended and not resume until the buyer ceases so to
proceed and the property is again marketed.
6. Multi-Agency – The sole agency will
continue unless we agree in writing to convert it into a multi-agency. In that
event the maximum number of other agents you may instruct will be [...] and our
combined fee for the conveyancing and the commission will be [...] of the sale
price. Such fee is payable by you if the applicant first becomes interested as
a result of our efforts in 1 above or with whom we had negotiations about the
property and which interest leads to the applicant completing a purchase of the
Property. You should be aware that this may result in other agents’ fees
becoming payable in addition but we are not responsible for determining at any
stage whether you may become liable to pay another agent’s fee in addition to
our own and we recommend that you seek independent legal advice about this
before you enter into any binding contract for sale. Our inclusive conveyancing service on the sale will only be
available if you choose to proceed with a sale to an applicant introduced by
ourselves. In the case of such multi-agency our fee is divided as to the legal
fee the amount which would have been applicable on the sole agency as above and
the remainder to the commission on sale. You may terminate the multi agency by written notice and the Multi Agency will come to an end on the fouteenth day after we receive the notice from you. All other provisions of these terms of
engagement will continue to apply.
7. We are not valuers and are not therefore in a
position to guarantee that the asking price or the ultimate price is
appropriate.
8. Applicants will be invited to inspect the
Property. Our representative will not
attend except by special arrangement and it may be necessary to charge a
fee. Applicants will be provided with a
written explanation of our role, and we attach a copy of this. We will notify you of all offers received. Applicants will be asked to demonstrate in
writing how they propose to finance the transaction, and if this involves
related sales, we will tell you what we have been able to find out about those
also. We cannot guarantee this information or the Applicant's genuineness or
readiness or ability to proceed at any stage. Dealing with the legal aspects does
provide useful opportunities to monitor these matters and we will tell you as
soon as questions arise.
9. ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE (EPC)
It is a
legal requirement to provide an EPC within 28 days of first marketing the
property. It is your responsibility as Seller to make sure that this is in
place, but we can arrange for an Independent Energy Assessor to provide this
for you, if you request that of us and put us in funds for it.
· Leaseholds
may require payments to others, which vary according to the property, which we
will have to ask you for separately in advance when we know what they are.
· Remember
buyers may legitimately wish to do their own official local search so your
choice could cause delay.
Please indicate your choice in the heading to the
engagement letter.
10. Please indicate your agreement to these terms by
signing and returning the accompanying copy with your ID. We reserve the right
not to accept instructions, with or without reason. Also with or without reason
after the 12-week period in 5 above, we may choose to withdraw from seeking a
buyer for you. We may choose not to act for you further or at all on
professional grounds at any time.
11. Separate terms will apply to (a) any purchase or
(b) any new mortgage or (c) if you instruct us on the legal work but not to
seek a buyer on the sale or (d) if we are to act on the legal work but do not
find a buyer who proceeds to completion. You may reject these terms, but we cannot then act on such matters unless
a variation is agreed.
12. Until
we exchange contracts on your behalf, you are not to enter into any legal
obligation to sell the Property. Any prospective sale is to be "Subject to
Contract". All discussions with applicants must be "Subject to
Contract". We recommend you put nothing in writing: if you do write
anything, be sure to head it "Subject to Contract".
13. If
there is more than one of you we act for you jointly and we will treat the
instructions of any one of you as the instructions of you all and if you
require independent legal advice, then each of you, as individuals, has the
right to consult a separate solicitor and you should tell us if you intend to
do this. In some cases a conflict of interest or problems of confidentiality
can arise and we may then have to decline to act further for any of you in the
transaction.
14. The
attached “Client Care Information” applies and forms part of these terms of
engagement.
The solicitor partner to act for you
and supervise your matter will be :
James Manchester
The other partner is : Andrew Durman
To agree the above terms, please
sign below.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
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Signature Signature
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Dated Dated
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OWNERS SHOULD SIGN
Legal Work on Sale
The fee for the legal
work on a sale covers the work on one abortive sale and the work on the sale
that goes ahead immediately after that. If there are two or more abortive sales
we may make an additional charge of the element for the legal work (at the
partners’ discretion) on every abortive matter exceeding one (adjusted in
accordance with the attached client care information to cover only the work
actually done charged as a proportion of the conveyancing element (but not
exceeding that) as set out herein on a pro rata basis at £100 plus VAT of £20
per hour). In addition to the fee on any abortive matter which is so charged,
we will charge for the work on the sale that proceeds.
ID required, please:
a) Photocard
Driving licence or passport; and
b) Receipted
Utilities demand or original bank statement addressed
to you at your residence which is less than 3 months old.
q Advice as to procedures and checking your ID;
q Procedural correspondence;
q Obtaining details of your title from the Land
Registry and also from your lender if you have a mortgage and proving ownership
to your Buyer;
q Drafting contract, agreeing it with your buyer’s
solicitor and having it signed;
q Obtaining and providing standard pre-contract
information;
q Obtaining redemption figure and paying off mortgage
out of sale proceeds (if applicable);
q Agreeing document transferring ownership to your
buyer and having it signed;
q Exchanging contracts and completing sale.
q Reporting to you on exchange of contracts;
q Synchronising sale and purchase where required; and
q Preparing full statement of figures by way of a
cash account prior to completion and if required accounting to you on
completion for any money due to you.
Information for Applicants
1. We
act as solicitors for the owner both to find a buyer and on the legal
work. We cannot therefore act for you
on the legal aspects of a purchase of the property (unless we tell you
otherwise).
2. The property description does not form part of any legal
representation or contract, and although measurements have been provided they
cannot be guaranteed either by us or by the owner. None of the appliances have
been tested nor will be by the owner or us.
3. Although we will notify the owner of any offer you make, we
will not be able to regard it as serious until we have written proof of
satisfactory financial arrangements and ID. Where there are related sales we will also need a full explanation of
the position there before recommending you to the owner.
4. No legal commitment in relation to the sale of the Property
arises and everything is entirely “subject to contract” until we exchange
contracts on behalf of the owner.
5. The ID we require with any offer is: (a) A Current Photocard
Driving Licence or Passport; and (b) Receipted electricity bill addressed to you at your residence which is less than three months
old.
6. After you have instructed your solicitor, we will continue to
contact you direct, but not on strictly legal matters.
7. We are obliged under new anti-money laundering legislation to
carry out electronic id checks on all new selling clients as well as applicants
who we introduce to our selling clients, at a cost of £7.05 per person
including VAT and will collect this from you at the outset and also immediately
once a sale has been agreed in the case of the buyer(s).
8. We
reserve the right to charge £5 plus VAT for carrying out AML Searches, per
person.
Legal Services
Once you have moved, it is a good time to review
your legal affairs. At Manchesters
Solicitors we are able to assist with that process. Our Partners are able to advise on:
q Wills
q Probate /Administration of
Estates
q Tax Advice
q Trusts
q Powers of Attorney
If you would like further information, please
telephone to make an appointment.
Manchesters Solicitors 020 8651 3118
5. Objectives
The objective is to conclude the transactions
referred to in the heading to the covering letter.
6. The Next Step
To
obtain the information for the preparation of the draft contract to send to the
Buyer’s solicitor.
7. Level
of Service
You
will be written to whenever our work reveals a point on which we require your
instructions or if there is some special aspect or difficulty. You will be written to with the contract to
sign when the draft has been approved, (with any proposed amendments), by all
parties. In the case of a purchase, you
will be provided with a full report of our investigations. You will be written to when contracts are
exchanged and notified of the agreed completion date and after that you will be
provided with a full cash account showing the cash position for
completion. You will be notified finally
of completion and when Land Registration has been concluded. We will respond promptly to your requests
for information within the limitations set out in 11 below as to numbers of
attendances and letters. It is agreed
that we shall not be under any obligation to inform you otherwise as to progress
unless we arrange with you to do so in advance in which case additional costs
may be involved.
Where one of our staff personally
attends on you away from our offices and invites you to sign these terms of
engagement then please note that the following Notice then applies to you:
NOTICE OF YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL THE
CONTRACT
1. We are Manchesters Solicitors practising as
Manchesters Property Centre at 21 Limpsfield Road Sanderstead South Croydon CR2
9LA
2. The contract or offer is identified by its
date and the address of the property to which it relates.
3. You have a right to cancel the contract if you wish
and this right can be exercised by delivering, or sending (including by
electronic mail) a cancellation notice to the person mentioned in the next
paragraph at any time within the period of 7 days starting with the day of
receipt of a notice in writing of the right to cancel the contract.
4. The name and address of the of the person to whom a
cancellation notice may be given is: James Manchester of Manchesters
Property Centre, 21 Limpsfield Road South Croydon CR2 9LA and his email address
is: manchestersUK@gmail.com
5. Notice of cancellation is deemed to be served as
soon as it is posted or sent (or in the case of an electronic communication
from the day it is sent) to us.
6. You can use the cancellation form provided if you
wish.
CANCELLATION NOTICE
If
you wish to cancel the contract you must do so in writing and deliver
personally or send (which may be by electronic mail) this to the person named
below. You may use this form if you want to but you do not have to.
(Complete,
detach and return this form ONLY IF YOU WISH TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT.)
To:
James Manchester, Manchesters Property Centre, 21 Limpsfield Road, South
Croydon CR2 9LA
I/We
(delete as appropriate) hereby give notice that I/We (delete as appropriate)
wish to cancel my/our (delete as appropriate) contract :
date of contract or offer:
address of property:
Signed:
Name
and Address:
Date:
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Sample client care information: property selling
