Do I Need a Solicitor to Sell my House?

With
the cost of hiring a solicitor to help with the selling of your house ranging anywhere
from £500 to £2,000, many will be wondering if they can undertake this task
without the help of a trained legal professional.

In
what follows, we’ll answer the question “do I need a solicitor to sell my
house?”.

Can
I a Sell my House Without a Solicitor?

While
it is quite uncommon for a person to deal with the sale of his house from start
to finish without the help of a solicitor, it is certainly not illegal for them
to do so. The only situation in which one wouldn’t be permitted to do this is
when the house is mortgaged – lenders will always push for a solicitor to be
appointed to deal with the repayment process (also known as the redemption of
the mortgage).

What options do you have if you want to sell your
house without a solicitor?

Employ
a licensed conveyancer instead of a solicitor

Those
living in England and Wales can choose to have a licensed conveyancer deal with
the sale of their house. While solicitors and licensed conveyancers are both
regulated legal professionals who are well equipped to deal with the legal work
required in the selling and buying of a home, there are a few differences between
the two. It’s important for you to familiarise yourself with these when
deciding which legal professional you’ll go for.

• The
  two professions are governed by different regulatory bodies. The Law Society for
  solicitors and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) for conveyancers.
• While
  solicitors are required by law to disclose any referral fees they receive from estate
  agents or other bodies, conveyancers have no such legal obligation.
• Licensed
  conveyancers are not limited in their ability to act on both sides of the
  transaction as solicitors are.
• There
  is also a price difference between solicitors and licensed conveyancers.
  However, this differential is only slight; you won’t save that much money
  opting for a conveyancer over a solicitor. As with anything, it’s important you
  do your research and find the best deal. For those who are particularly tight
  on cash, this is a great option.

If
you’d like to familiarise yourself with the conveyancing process, check out our
other post which answers the question ‘how
long does conveyancing take?’.

Do
it all yourself

“Do
I need a solicitor to sell my house?” – the answer is no, but unless you’re
strapped for cash or have a lot of time on your hands, we’d recommend going
with one anyway. In order to understand why we’re putting this recommendation
out, it’s best to go through what you would need to do to completely DIY your
house sale.

The
core tasks a conveyancer or solicitor would perform for you during a house sale
are:

• Obtaining
  title deeds and fill in the necessary questionnaires.
• If
  applicable, agree upon a figure for your mortgage settlement and pay off the
  remainder of the mortgage.
• Write
  up a contract for sale and distribute it to the parties concerned.
• Agree
  upon a moving date with the buyer or those acting on their behalf.
• Receive
  the house deposit.
• Prepare
  a final statement.
• Approve
  the deed of transfer.
• Hand
  the property deeds over to the buyer and send any outstanding balance to you.

We
have previously compiled a list
of the documents you need to sell a house in the UK, which can be of help
if you decide to deal with your house sale on your own.

One
of the problems you might run into straight away if you’re selling a leasehold property
or a property that is under a mortgage is that the owner of the freehold or the
mortgager might not allow you to undertake these tasks by yourself. Most
parties in such a situation would want a qualified legal professional to deal
with the sale of the property.

In
fact, the legal complexities which are associated with the sale of a leasehold
property are such that you will most certainly get bogged down in the process
if you have no legal expertise.

When
it comes to mortgaged properties, most banks will insist that you use a solicitor,
and many will compel you to use one on their recognised solicitor list.

If
you’re neither selling a leasehold nor a home which is under a mortgage, you
will be faced with a further issue: the fact that you, as opposed to a legal
professional, will not be insured against mistakes made during the process. If
you make mistakes along the way, you could potentially face an expensive
lawsuit.

Is
it worth selling your house without a solicitor?

All
in all, while it’s possible to sell your house without the help of a legal
professional in some situations, you will be putting yourself at risk of being
sued if you make mistakes during the process. The legal fees you will then have
to pay will certainly be higher than what you would have paid a solicitor to
deal with your house sale. For this simple reason, it’s better to hire a
solicitor to deal with all of the legal bits.

If
you’re in a hurry and want to sell your
house fast, check out our blog post detailing tips
to prepare your house for a quick sale. Furthermore, if, for whatever
reason, you find yourself in a situation where your house sale falls through,
our post on ‘what
to do when a buyer pulls out of a house sale?’ will definitely be of much
help.