The Selling Process

Valuation

To request a free valuation of your property you can either call, come in to any of our offices or complete the Valuation Request form on this website, click here.

Preparing your property for sale

Once confirmation of your instruction has been received, we will immediately market your property. This will include organising the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). From one visit we will produce high quality digital photographs, a full set of floor-plans, write and design property particulars for both on-line and off-line marketing. This set of complete property details is then uploaded onto BlakesEstateAgents.com and also to a number of national property portals including Rightmove.co.uk and MousePrice.com. This information, together with full measurements and a description, is presented to a prospective buyer in an easy to view format.

Our property particulars are also presented in an attractive multi-page format with full use of colour internal and external photography and floor plan layouts. As a result, we have found that the numbers of "wasted" viewings have been reduced, and our clients need only have buyers viewing their property who are genuinely interested.

Legal

A solicitor will be required to handle the legal paperwork involved in transferring the ownership of your property to the new prospective owner(conveyance). We recommend that you instruct your solicitor at the same time as putting your property on the market, to allow for collection of the necessary documentation. For leasehold properties, we recommend that you forward copies of your service charge accounts over the last three years plus estimates for the forthcoming year and building insurance certificates, to your solicitor the moment you instruct us to market your property. Alternatively, you can ask your solicitor to collect these documents from the Managing Agent in the case of apartment blocks.

Finances

Unless you are are a cash buyer or not buying on, you will need a mortgage. This should be arranged in principle at the earliest stage possible. Ideally before you market your property.

Many homeowners assume that they can take their existing mortgage with them when they move. Whilst this may be true to an extent, your lender will still want references, a valuation and other information about how your circumstances have changed since you took out your existing mortgage.

Buying on

If you are buying on, we recommend that you view properties to ensure that you have a good idea of what is available before you go "under offer". We will keep you updated if you are looking locally. If you are looking further afield, we will pass your details onto our associates in your chosen location.

On the market

As soon as we have received instructions, we start marketing your property. This means that within minutes of marketing commencing, our telesales team will be contacting our pool of waiting buyers to arrange viewings. We will also text an SMS alert to all buyers with a mobile phone. Once a HIP is completed and you have approved the property particulars, your property will go live on the internet and we will email details to buyers and also mail them out via the post. Your property will also be displayed in our window on our large LCD screen ensuring that passing buyers in our busy High Street location are aware of your property.

Viewings

It is our job to sell your property for you, which is why in almost all cases we accompany the prospective purchaser around the property. We arrange in excess of 500 viewings per month, many of which take place during the evenings and weekends.

Feedback

We will keep you well informed about the marketing of your property. We will call to discuss your viewings, normally on the next working day. Additionally, we will regularly discuss the overall campaign to sell your property with you. this is backed up with a written detailed progress report. This contains details of all telephone calls made, viewings arranged, offers received or in fact any event that takes place in relation to the sale of your property.

This report, which is mailed to you regularly, allows you to keep a record of events so that you are able to see what is being done to sell your home, and also provides you with essential feedback, including internet access details, about how the market is reacting to your property.

Receiving an offer

We will communicate an offer to you at the earliest opportunity. This will be done both verbally and in writing with appropriate advice regarding the price and status and ability of the buyer to proceed. Please view our policy on offers. We will discuss the future marketing of the property with you at this stage.

Sale Agreed.

Once a purchaser has been established and the price accepted it is vital that the following details are agreed:

• Date for exchange of contracts

• Date for completion

• Details of any extras included or excluded from the purchase to be agreed

We will advise you and negotiate on your behalf through this process, keeping you informed every step of the way.

Draft contract and supporting paperwork

Once the transaction is agreed your solicitor will send out a Draft contract to your purchaser's solicitors who in turn will carry out Preliminary Enquiries and order a Land Registry Search plus supporting paperwork ie: Title Deads, copy of Lease (if applicable) fixtures and fttings list, seller's questionnaire, planning consent (if applicable), guarantees (where applicable), copy of building regulations (where applicable), and Share of Freehold certificate (where applicable). Service charge accounts & building insurance (in general this is not applicable to freehold properties).

Contract approval

This is when all preliminary enquiries from the Draft Contract and Local Search queries have been settled.

Exchange contracts

Most buyers require mortgages. Once the mortgage offer has been confirmed the purchaser is ready to exchange contracts. The contract is signed by buyer(s) and seller(s) and the deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price) is either telegraphically transferred or paid by the buyer's solicitor, by banker's draft. The completion date is set at this stage.

Completion

This is your moving day and is generally set a few days to a few weeks after exchange of contracts depending on the buyer's and your personal requirements, and the residual monies are transferred from the buyer's lawyers to your lawyer's account.