Once the draft contracts are with the buyer’s solicitors, they will be reviewed and amended and initial enquiries will be raised. The management pack itself will contain crucial information about the property, including any works that may have taken place and accounts in relation to service charges etc.
At this stage, the buyer’s solicitors will also order the local authority searches in order to check up on any potential concerns with the property such as a risk of flooding, future building plans, current planning issues, environmental concerns, etc. – these searches could take a few weeks to come back, so it is important the buyer makes sure their solicitor has ordered them at an early stage.
During this period there will be a lot of “back and forth” in terms of enquiries and waiting on documents. It is the period when a lack of communication can hurt the sale as it can cause progress to stall, so it is imperative for us to make sure that the lines of communication are wide open and that everything is being dealt with.