Specialist retirement property can offer a cosy, comfortable and worry free solution for those of a retirement age who are looking for a new home in a ready-made, managed community. Although they offer independent living, they are generally self contained with all services taken care of so buyers need not worry about maintenance, security or access.
However before realising this idyllic future there will be financial, legal and emotional hurdles to overcome. So as a buyer you want a calm, efficient team that removes the burden from you, by just quietly getting on with your conveyancing; undertaking the searches, answering the questions, dealing with the other party’s solicitors and, critically, exchanging and completing on time.
As well as dealing with all the legal technicalities, your legal adviser should ensure that you feel comfortable and understand the issues. Taking the time to keep you and, if you wish, your family fully informed throughout the transaction and dealing promptly with any queries that you may have; aiming to make the whole process a positive and stress free one.
Buying a retirement home – conveyancing process
When you’ve found the perfect retirement home, great quality build, right location and on budget, you can happily start the buying process. This begins with making an offer and agreeing a purchase price.
When your offer is accepted, the property is ‘Sold Subject to Contract’ or ‘Under Offer’; which basically means that neither party is tied in and both are at liberty to pull out.
As a consequence, to secure your new home, it is best to proceed with the legal process as quickly as possible. Whilst the home may not be ready for you to move into, that does not stop us from proceeding to exchange of Contracts on your behalf as soon as, which means that contracts are legally binding and neither party can pull out without facing serious ramifications. The process to exchange essentially involves investigating the title to the property, raising any necessary enquiries with the sellers, obtaining searches and dealing with lender requirements.
Once you are exchanged, the process to completion is somewhat simpler (especially in comparison to that to exchange!). Once the home is ready to move into, the seller can serve a “Notice to Complete” and completion then takes place within an agreed timescale (usually ten working days).
To help you better understand what really goes on, a more detailed description of the conveyancing process for buying a retirement home follows.
Buying a retirement home – conveyancing process
Initial Analysis
To start with, the Developer will issue your lawyer with the Contract Pack. The Contract Pack is essentially the basis of the information to the property and contains the title, the Lease, a copy of the proposed Contract, any additional conditions and any information about the property that the Developer believes to be pertinent. On receipt of the Contract Pack, if it does not already contain searches, they will order them.
Further Enquires
On receipt of the abovementioned Contract Pack your lawyer will get to work reviewing the pack and raising any necessary enquiries with the Sellers. They will also review the searches as they come back and raise any necessary enquiries off the back of the same.
Once all our enquiries have been satisfied and search results received, the lawyers will produce our Contract Report. This will explain the legalities of the transaction to you in plain English and enclose any documents they believe you might need to have sight of prior to exchange of Contracts. Enclosed with the Contract Report will be your Contract and request for your deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price).
Should you be obtaining mortgage finance, they will also report to you on the terms of the mortgage offer at this time, enclosing a copy of the mortgage deed for your signature.
If you are happy to proceed to exchange of Contracts your lawyers will come back to us at this time with the signed Contract, mortgage deed and deposit.
Exchange
If the property is built by the time you are ready to proceed to exchange of Contracts, your lawyers will simply agree a date and proceed to exchange. You will then be legally bound to the purchase and they will request the balance of funds required from yourselves and the mortgage lender where appropriate.
If the property is not yet built, your lawyers will proceed to exchange of Contracts with an estimated completion date and completion “on Notice”. The transaction becomes legally binding at this stage, as in the first scenario above. When the Notice has been received they will request the balance of funds required from yourselves and the mortgage lender where appropriate.
Once exchange has taken place your lawyers will send you the final Lease. This is the document that will transfer the ownership of the property and the land on which it is sited into your name. It will contain terms that we will have explained in our Contract Report. The lawyers will also initiate our final Land Registry searches.
On the date of completion the lawyers will have the balance of completion monies sent over to the Sellers Solicitors to finalise the transaction.
Come Completion – you get the keys!
Retirement homes conveyancing will be performed by Taylor Rose MW Limited. Taylor Rose MW Limited is a firm of solicitors authorised and regulated by the Solicitors regulation Authority, SRA no 623604.
