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Archive for October, 2009

Special Offers on Furniture at Online Store London

October 31st, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

If you are planning to purchase furniture for your home, garden or office, there is no doubt you want to get top quality furniture with a great deal. You can buy classical, stylish and sleek furniture for any décor. To save your money, you may consider special offers or discounts with first priority. You just need to pick the perfect furniture that will make your home look great.

Getting special offers or discount doesn’t mean that you will not get furniture that looks wonderful. Use the navigation to search through offerings provided by furniture owners in London and gets the needed furniture with beneficial offer. You can avail and enjoy the given benefits when you go the discount route for the furniture you need.

Benefits of buying furniture during special offers

There are many benefits to purchase furniture from stores who are offering discount or some other special offers to customers.

You can buy given furniture ranges at discountable prices at Thamesfurniture online store London.

Skye Storage Stool

The Skye stool is covered with stunning retro design. This Skye storage stool is personalized with its own funky cushion and an ideal addition to warm your conservatory or living room. Due to its functional storage facility Skye storage stool can create its own space in any room of the house.

Tampica Natural Lamp Table

Tampica Natural Lamp Table is well crafted with joints and is finished in a stunning rich ash veneer. Its modern design and attractive lamp table is perfectly fit in any living room. Its natural color suits to all types of décor and can be placed in any room.

Lucius Single Bed

Lucius single bed is made of solid oak and oak veneer with unique style. Oak used for Lucius range is superior quality and offers a value for money in any bedroom range. This range gives modern look to your bedroom.

Monaco Walnut TV Unit

Monaco Walnut TV Unit made of solid and walnut veneer clean, simple lines. It has solid slab and three open boxes to place showpiece, books or anything you want. It is the perfect Unit to keep your TV and other equipments.

Esprite Bedstead

Esprite Bedstead is a modern and contemporary bedroom range. Its dark appearance finish and silver handles gives exclusive look that makes your bedroom exciting. It has smooth lines and platform frame for comfortable support. Esprite bedstead is a part of bedroom furniture that gives traditional look to your bedroom.

Thamesfurniture, furniture store London provides an exciting range of home, garden and office furniture. We feature a great selection of living room, bedroom, dining room, office and garden furniture. You will find a perfect combination of style and versatility in our furniture to compliment your place. You can enjoy greater savings and value with each product. If you are looking for quality furniture at amazing prices with special offers then visit this online furniture store immediately! You will get high quality furniture at discount prices with free home delivery.

Gilbert Homes – Cheap Houses, How to Find Them

October 31st, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

We all have our dream homes. However, most of us do not have enough to purchase our dream house. If only we could find a great house like those at Gilbert Homes with a lower price, it would be great.
We often associate beautiful houses with big bucks. That is why we often settle for smaller simple houses. There is nothing wrong with living in a simple home. All that matters is that it is safe and comfortable.
Although we could settle for the smaller house, we want to experience living in a beautiful abode.
It is indeed difficult to find an affordable house. It also seems that now is not a good time to invest on anything. However, what would you do if you can purchase a beautiful house at a price lower than its market value?
It is not impossible to find a beautiful house at an affordable price nowadays. One of the best ways to purchase a house at a cheaper price is to buy foreclosures. Foreclosed homes are those houses that the lenders took hold of, because the homeowner was not able to settle their debt.
They are most of the time valued less than their true market value.
The value of a foreclosed property is lower because lenders often times want to recover the amount unsettled by the homeowners. Foreclosed house are usually valued at 5 to 10 percent lower than its market value. However, it can go to as much as 20 to 50 percent, depending on the lender and the property.
The best way to find foreclosed houses is to ask lending companies. There are also government agencies that have a list of foreclosed houses. You can specify the location and check if the house appeals to you. You can also attend auctions for foreclosed houses. This will also help your strike a good deal.
Another advantage of purchasing a foreclosed house is that the miscellaneous expenses that go with it are also cheaper. Therefore, you will be able to get a good bargain for a very low price.
You can also profit from investing on these houses. Like the Gilbert Homes, you can set it up for sale. Most foreclosed houses need a little renovations and repairs. By spending some for its repainting and other repairs, you can resell it at a much higher price and generate more profit. In fact, this is what most investors do today. They look for cheaper houses, renovate them, and sell it at a much higher price.
However, buying a foreclosed house is not a walk in the park. You might encounter a few challenges if you do not do your research ahead of time. For a smooth transfer of ownership, make sure that you know what goes with the house when you purchase it. This includes unpaid taxes and other liens. In addition, you have to make sure that the previous owners are no longer staying in the property. This can be very difficult to handle as previous owners may refuse to leave.
You can benefit from purchasing foreclosed house, just make sure you know more about the property before making the purchase.

London Travel Guide

October 31st, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

Important Points to Remember While Buying Foreclosed Houses

October 31st, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

Foreclosed houses are repossessed by the lenders when the mortgagor meets payment default thereby losing the mortgaged house in the hands of lenders. Lenders recover the due debts by auctioning the foreclosed house and the winning bidder is given certificate of purchase by the lenders.

Foreclosure houses for sale can allow the potential buyers to avail interesting discounts as the lenders are usually in hurry to sell the foreclosed house so as to recover the due debts in a shortest possible time.

The main points which need special consideration while making purchase of foreclosed houses include:

Ø The buyers must bid according to the structural condition of the foreclosed house and should add up the repair cost in the gross purchase amount if the foreclosed house is in terribly bad condition.

Ø Buyers must have a proper check on the neighborhood services such as hospitals, educational institutions and metro stations so as to analyze if the house can offer a convenient living or not.

Ø Buyers must check if there are any illegal residents inside the foreclosed home or not

Ø It is vital to check upon the safety issues so as to take special safety measures before shifting to the foreclosed home

Ø Buyers must seek professional advice from an expert, experienced and certified real estate broker so as to know important details of how to get interesting discounts in purchase of foreclosed home.

Ø It is advisable for the buyers to offer standing deals to the lenders by approaching them with alluring price offering for the foreclosed home before the scheduled date and time for auction.

Ø Buyers must bid according to pay ability so as to avoid getting trapped in debt for making pay off of purchased foreclosed home.

Ø In order to buy foreclosed home in auction, one must have sufficient savings as it is vital to make on-the-spot payment after winning auction of foreclosed home.

There are several websites on the internet from where one can get extensive and regularly updated listing of about millions of foreclosed houses for sale. One can check out exclusive details of government foreclosures, pre-foreclosures and auctions in the online listing of foreclosed house. Online service providers are the perfect source available to get personalized expert advice on how to make a successful purchase of foreclosed house.

The best part of opting to online listing is that there one can get exclusive filter options of foreclosed houses along with photos of the foreclosed houses. The customer care officials of the websites offering online listing are available 24 hours so as to solve likely queries of the potential buyers regarding the purchase of foreclosed homes. With foreclosure listing websites, one can also get info on how to purchase and finance bank foreclosures.

Reasons to Visit London

October 30th, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

When you go to London, the best time is definitely during the Summer, because there is no cold or snow to make you feel chilly and miserable.
After you land at Heathrow Airport you will have access to hire a taxicab and he will get you to the best hotels in London or the surrounding areas.
You can also take a taxi and go to places that you wish to visit as London is the most exciting city in the world.
It has many gardens & museums for you to see and lots of locations for pure enjoyment. The very first thing you should do is of course to visit Big Ben Tower and the Thames River with the London Eye Trip beckoning you at Westminster Bridge.
The Thames has a really beautiful landscape view and it is the longest river in England. Here you can just relax or do some shopping, buy souvenirs since London is also considered to be the best city in the world for shopping as well.
Some of the best gardens in the world are here for example Hyde Park, Green Park, Battersea Park, Greenwich Park, Hampstead Park, Holland Park, and many more.
Then you have the wonderful museums in London such as the Guards, Fashion & Textile, the Bank of England, British Museum to name a few.
The concept of London is that it is made up of many separate villages which is very well illustrated in North London by the suburb of Hampstead.
Oxford Circus & Piccadilly Circus are amazing places to visit and they draw in millions of people every year.
Piccadilly Circus is a rather untidy place with lots of traffic and it’s the central hub of the West End and a most popular meeting place for UK Residents as well as International Visitors.
One more place where you have to go is Whitehall and Buckingham Palace to see the hundreds of years old history of the British Government and Aristocracy.
The Houses of Parliament are directly accountable to Her Majesty The Queen and she can dissolve Parliament at a moment’s notice if she wishes.
Many Diplomats and Celebrities live in St. Johns Wood which is a most beautiful residential area north of Regents Park and the famous Baker Street.
If you get a chance have a good look at the City of London with using an amphibious vehicle with a Duck Tour – it’s the best way to travel by road and by river in London ie. along the river Thames !
London is famous for it’s historical buildings including Admiralty Arch, Queen Victoria Memorial, Wellington Arch, Bunhill Fields, Covent Garden, Duke of York’s Column and many more.
For shopaholics more shopping can be easily achieved in Carnaby Street, Charing Cross Road and Greenwich and afterwards why not wander into the many various museum types in London. Some more of particular note are the Tate Galleries, London History Museum, London Maritime Museum, National Gallery, London Transport Museum etc.
And if you have any money left over from your Shopping, then London’s best art galleries sell international modern & contemporary art paintings and paraphernalia at interesting prices.
How about enjoying London from the top of a traditional Double Decker Bus. You can see Piccadilly Circus nicely and and hop off and back on at Trafalgar Square or at Whitehall.
The Tour Hosts are armed with the best London Knowledge and have exceptional customer service to make your tour journey the best possible.
They also do the purple route which takes you to Holland Park, Notting Hill, Kensington Garden, Paddington Station and Madame Tussaudes.
The green route will take you to the British Museum, Russell Square, Telecom Tower, Leicester Square, The National Gallery, Big Ben, Waterloo Station and the London Eye.
These are the places a tourist should visit if they want to get to know London’s best sites. Also try to enjoy the City of London on a hop-on & hop-off Double Decker Bus.
Once you’ve been to these places you have basically seen the cream of London.
When you are ready for Dinner, admire London from a glass encased river boat with breathtaking panoramic views including a dinner on the Thames River.
You can also enjoy the Medieval Banquet with unlimited beer or wine and enjoy the fire-eaters, jesters, minstrels. After the show hit the dance floor or take a stroll to Tower Bridge and enjoy the view of London by night.
It’s the best way to enjoy London and don’t forget that Greenwich and Hampton Court Palace and ancient Windsor Castle are less than one hour’s distance from London’s West End.
If you want to see the Royal luxury way of life go on a Buckingham Palace Tour and also see the “Changing of the Guards” which is always a treat to watch.
If you want to enjoy a visit to London, then better go in Summer with no adverse chilly weather and so sneezing and coughing are out of the picture.
Just relax and take a deep breath and suck in the wonderful atmosphere in the Summer Sunshine while looking at various Sites, new and old, in mighty London.

The Rise and Fall of the Housing Market

October 30th, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

If there’s anything I can tell you about the housing market in Canada right now it’s “How little things change!”   The housing market across the world is in trouble right now and everyone is panicking, but I think it is important to get some perspective on this situation.  The housing market is always consistent in one way, that it’s never consistent, the markets boom and bust all the time!  A good example of this point is the housing market of the 1950’s, the market was booming, housing prices were increasing, things were great and then in the late 50’s the unemployment rate went up and the market crashed.  Once again, in the late 80’s we saw a thriving housing market in Canada and then the interest rates skyrocketed and people lost their houses, this situation affected the entire housing market in Canada and house prices took a dive.

Some outside force usually spark s the market depreciating. In the fifties, it was the growing unemployment rate, in the eighties it was the huge increase in interest rates, and now the crisis in the US, which was caused by poor lending practices in the mortgage industry.  What you should remember is that nobody wants a poor housing market in Canada so the government and the Bank of Canada will do everything in their power to fix the problem.

In fact, the Bank of Canada recently announced that it has vigorously cut its overnight lending rate by seventy-five basis points. This cut now puts the overnight rate at its lowest point in 50 years.  The last time the rate was so low was in 1958 when again, in response to the housing crisis, the rate was cut to prompt people into purchasing a home in Canada.

All of this is good news for homebuyers and sellers, on the one hand if you are purchasing a home in Canada you benefit from cheaper rates and less expensive houses, and on the others hand the sellers benefit from more buyers.  It is also import ant for sellers to remember that even if you are selling your home in a down market it is all relative because you are also purchasing a home in that same market. The same thing applies to selling in a booming house market, yes, you benefit by getting a higher price for your home, but you still have to buy another house so you are purchasing a home in the same market at the increased prices.

We’ve already seen the credit crunch here in Canada slacken a little bit.  The worse of it was over almost as quickly as it began, and it’s almost business as usual again in the mortgage industry.  In the mortgage industry, we’re seeing loads of competition from lenders with rate specials, and lots of availability of cash for good quality borrowers and homes. If you are a first time homebuyer now is the time you will benefit from cheap rates and less expensive houses, giving you the opportunity to start build wealth through equity.  In addition, if you own your own home now could be a good time for refinancing a mortgage into lower rates or even take advantage of the equity in your home to consolidate debts.  After all, there are some fantastic rate specials out there now and why should a first time homebuyer be the only one to benefit.  Therefore, if you are purchasing a home, purchasing a new home, or refinancing a mortgage, don’t be afraid of the housing market in Canada the difficulties are normal and if it’s down right now it will be up again later.

London Land Scams in London, UK

October 30th, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

A series of land scams, particularly London Land Scams, have given a number of reliable land investment companies a bad name. But is the bad press that these London land scams have created really warranted? In the past companies around the South-East of the UK offered the investors the opportunity to speculate in agricultural land that stood little chance of gaining planning permission. This was not limited just to land in and around the London area. There have been examples of other land scams as well, viz. Kent land scams and Sussex land scams. But not all opportunities to invest in land with development potential are scams. There is a breed of more responsible companies that offer UK land investments that have the potential to earn investors exponential returns over the medium term. The growth in land values is driven by a number of key factors that are affecting land, housing and property development in the UK. One of these factors is a severe housing shortage in UK, creating an increased demand for land with the potential to build upon. It is estimated that about 400,000 homes will be required throughout the UK in the next ten years.

Investing in land around the London area and in Sussex or Kent is a highly plausible way of making potentially spectacular returns. And importantly the investor actually owns something a lot more tangible than shares, unit trusts or bonds. So fortunately, not all of these land investment schemes are like the London land scams, or the Kent land scams, or the Sussex land scams that we outlined earlier. If you find a highly professional land investment company – like UK Land Investments – you can look forward to excellent potential returns over the medium term.

So ultimately something good did come out of the London land scams, the Kent land scams and the Sussex Land Scams. Now at least it is feasible for ordinary people to be able to buy plots of UK investment land from a company that has its investor’s objectives at heart.

Financial Factors of Home Purchase

October 30th, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

When a house property is listed for sale in the market, the buyers will come with different price ranges to purchase the house property. To purchase the house property, the buyer should have enough price consideration for the property. Most buyers do not have enough cash to purchase the house. To buy the home the buyers would search for obtaining finance through mortgage. To purchase the house property, the buyer is to obtain the mortgage from any of the institution, banks, and mortgage lenders and so on. In order to evaluate the financial plans of the buyer, financial strategies are to be evaluated. Financial details are the major reasons that are included in the offer price.

Down Payment

Down payment is the initial payment made by the buyer to the seller for the purchase of the house property. This down payment is to be disclosed properly by the buyer at the time of purchase. As part of the offer price, the amount or volume of the down payment is to be decided by the buyer. At the time of down payment the seller will evaluate the possibility of the house buyer obtaining the home loan. When the buyer make large down payment, it is easier for the buyer to obtain the mortgage approval. The underwriting guidelines for this will be less restrictive. Down payment is the financial aspect which will affect your financial requirement.

Influence of Interest Rate

The other aspect that includes in the financial requirement of the purchase is the interest rate offered by the mortgage lenders and banks. To protect the buyer against the financial shortage, the interest rate offered by the institution is to be less. When interest rate paid by the buyer is more, then the buyer will be afraid of buying the house property. Interest rate is the financial drawback for the buyer. To purchase the home property the buyer will obtain the mortgage from the mortgage institution and banks with the high interest rate. If interest rate rises quickly, the mortgage payment paid by the buyer will be higher. When interest rate offered is more then the buyer can close the contract. Interest rate also affects the financial aspect of the buyer.

Financial Incentives

The seller may sometimes ask the buyer to pay of the price consideration in single payment. In such a situation, the buyer may ask incentives to the seller regarding the payment. When the incentive is asked to the seller, the seller may sometimes provide the incentive to the buyer. Here the seller may negotiate the price. Financial incentives are the main consideration to be considered by the buyer at the time of purchase. The buyer can ask the seller to provide the loan to him for the purchase of the house property.

Seller Financing

Obtaining the loan from the seller is called seller financing. It is a second mortgage which helps the buyer to facilitate the home purchase. The benefit for the buyer is that combining the down payment with the second mortgage from the seller, will avoid paying mortgage insurance and also save money.

You are the individual who make home purchase offer through cash, it makes the sense to provide the documentation for the funds available. The offer should contain information whether you obtain fixed rate or adjustable rate of mortgage. The offer should also state whether you are obtaining conventional financing or any other loan.

Best Fresh Flowers are the London Flowers

October 29th, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

Fresh flowers are perhaps the world’s most beautiful natural sight. A splash of colours and sweet smell can add a lease of life to the surroundings. Traditionally the flowers were used to decorate the dining table or the homes. But with the advent of time, flowers are finding their way in the day-today life of businesses across the globe. An exquisite flower vase along with an array of multitude of flowers will enhance any setting. Flowers in a crystal bowl filled with water will further the reflection and the aura.

London flowers will make you pause and admire the nature especially in the springtime. The meandering parks lined up with the cascading and sweet smelling flowers are a sight that cannot be missed. The fresh Cecile and Madame hanging above your head are simply breathtaking. In London, May is the time when you will see a colourful display of fresh flowers everywhere. They are proudly exhibited in the exhibitions and the arcades of the houses. Special gardens containing blooming flowers and running streams are created to attract the customers.

Apart from being an addendum to the beautiful setting, the fresh flowers are therapeutic in nature. Their sweet smell uplifts the mood. According to Chinese, fresh flowers magnetize positive energy in the house. Moreover, people like to send and receive flowers. If you plan to buy the flowers from the local market, then you will face constraint in the quality as well as the quantity. This is due to the fact that the flowers in the retail market are passed through several hands whereby they are stemmed or processed. Sometimes they are kept in the chemicals for a prolonged time. This may result in an arrangement that is not aesthetically satisfying.

However, buying fresh flowers from the online shops is fantastic idea. This is because the shipment in the online shops comes directly from the cultivators. The flowers with them are not only fresh; they are available at discounted prices. The flowers are usually delivered to you within 24 hours from the time they are cut freshly from the farm. The seasonal flowers look more attractive then the ones that are produced out of season. The flowers from the online shops can stay fresh for a longer time than the ones bought from the retail market.

There are many ways to show that you care. But an expression exhibited through flowers is different. It brings positive vibrations and a kind of eclectic surge of emotions every time you see them. They are a critical component of a tribute and honour to the beloved ones who have settled with dust. Personalizing your gestures like saying sorry, thanking or congratulating with the help of flowers makes a difference to the whole ambience.

London flowers are most beautiful in the spring time and expressions can be enhanced by presenting these fresh flowers. A splash of nature will keep you energetic for the entire day.

Buying, Selling a House: Mortgage, Conveyancing Process

October 29th, 2009 HowToPurchaseHouse No comments

MORTGAGE AND CONVEYANCING IN HOME OWNERSHIP(Based on author’s site www.geocities.com/cnvync)

It is useful to know, if one is buying or selling a house or land, what is conveyancing and what the process involves…

Conveyancing takes place when real estate e.g. a house or a farm is sold or bought -it is the process followed in the sale and purchase of all that is called ‘real-estate’ (land on its own, or with building on it -whether for business or private use), and it may take up to 6 months to complete, for the transaction to be full and complete in the eyes of the law.

Conveyancing is usually considered to be ‘all Greek’ to persons who are not formally legally trained but it is easily explainable to lay persons in everyday language -conveyancing is not at all difficult to understand…

All sale and purchase of real-estate must be by written contract, and registered, whether with or without mortgage and irrespective of the type of mortgage -the following explains this comveyancing process, how this is done…

In property conveyancing when the first step is taken to sell real-estate, e.g. a house, and it is agreed with a real-estate property dealer, an ‘estate agent’, to act on behalf of the seller and advertise the property and find a buyer, all agreements, including the agreed selling price, made with the buyer are only ‘in principle’ made and ’subject to contract’, and so is the ‘draft-contract’ then made upon that agreement at this stage of conveyancing.

(In Scotland this is rather different in conveyancing; in order to protect against ‘gazumping’ -the seller’s considering higher offers after the buyer has gone to the time and the trouble and the expense in reliance on the agreement in principle, this ‘draft-contract’ binds the seller not to continue to offer the property to others once he has agreed to sell to the buyer and the conveyancing process begins.)

It is at this ’subject to contract’ stage of conveyancing that parties engage their lawyers -although for the seller this is often arranged by the estate-agent, and in England the lawyer instructed is normally not a ‘barrister’ [a trial advocate] but a ’solicitor’ [an attorney who is not normally a trial advocate] or a reputable specialist property conveyancing firm).

The seller’s legal representative’s job in property conveyancing begins with obtaining the title-deeds to the property to be sold, and all the relevant information from the seller he represents -on the basis of these he prepares a ‘draft contract’ and furnishes with a copy of it the legal representative of the buyer.

The buyer’s legal representative’s job then begins by an investigation of the property his client intends to purchase. He uses, normally, a standard and available conveyance form to make the preliminary conveyancing enquiries -the conveyance form contains such standard routine preliminary conveyancing questions as pertain to the legal and physical aspects of that property which his client want to buy, and he sends that questionnaire to the seller’s legal representative.

At the same time (important in property conveyancing) he also checks with the appropriate local authority (in England the local Land Charges Register) in order to discover whether there are, for example, any industrialization schemes or road-building schemes intended or proposed by the local authority which may affect that property.

The matter of finance is, of course, almost always in property conveyancing, a consideration on the part of the party intending to buy a house or flat or other real-estate property when the intended purchase is a domestic one, and at this stage the seller’s interest necessitates formal confirmation that the buyer has the funds to enable the conveyancing, the money available to make the intended purchase.

The buyer’s funds in conveyancing are often a raised loan, such as a bank ‘mortgage’ -a loan for such purposes. (In some countries, e.g. England, usually such ‘mortgagees’ [lenders] are Building Societies [as distinct from high-street banks or merchants' banks] which are banks especially in this field lending for real-estate purchasing purposes and mostly to people who save with them and whose such loans, mortgages, are normally repayable over as much as up to three times a longer period of time and with more favourable interest rates for the mortgagor -the borrower).

Begins now in the conveyancing process also the job of the mortgagee (the lender) approached. The mortgagee needs, essentially, to ensure that the security offered for the mortgage by the ‘mortgagor’ (the borrower -the intending buyer) is good, and that the intending buyer applying for the mortgage can repay it ~it is given authority to make such enquiries as from e.g. the mortgage applicant’s employer as to his earnings -and in the case of the Building Societies it carries considerable weight in a decision whether to lend if the applicant mortgagor have been saving with them and in what amounts and how regularly.

Such lenders employ surveyors to ensure that the property offered as security for the mortgage is physically and legally good and of value enough to cover the mortgage needed in conveyancing (that property usually is the property for the purchase of which the mortgage is applied for).

In conveyancing it is considered wise for the intending buyer who has applied for the mortgage to have the property also for and on his own behalf and independently professionally surveyed -often arranged by his legal representatives.

The reason for this is that, while in conveyancing any defects which may affect the value of the property can be taken into consideration and the purchase can be withdrawn from or the ‘draft-contract’ and the sale-price re-negotiated at this stage, once the conveyance, the purchase, has been fully completed in law, except in case fraud, if the buyer has relied on the lender’s survey, he has no remedy in law against any defects found in the property later. (In England the government in 2000 considered proposals to require the seller [at cost to the seller which may be reflected in the selling price] to provide the purchaser, in advance, with an information-pack containing also a report of a formal and professional survey of the property, usually a house, to be sold. In 2007, with only half of mortgages as fixed-term debts and the rest capable of actually costing one-third as much more depending on interest rates, it having been decided to make compulsory a Housing Information Pack [HIP] containing proof of ownership and normally expected also to contain a professional survey of the property at cost to the seller, and many having been trained specially to supply that service, it is now a legal requirement that in the case of houses with 4+ bedrooms an Energy Report must at least have been applied for by the seller and (at the sellers option) a Home Condition Report be included in the HIP.)

Here is reached, all the above having been done, the ‘exchanging-contracts’ stage of the property conveyance, before what is called in conveyancing ‘completion’.

Having been amended as may have been considered necessary the ‘draft-contract’, now a proper contract is drawn up in the form that is intended by both parties to be legally binding on them.

The law requires all contracts for sale of property to be in writing and to incorporate all of the terms which have been expressly agreed between the parties as having been clearly understood and intended to be legally binding on them ~all of the terms of the real estate sale must be contained in one single document (in English law this requirement is Section 2 of the Law of Property [Miscellaneous] Provisions Act 1989) -although it is not essential for the signatures of both of the parties to the conveyancing to be on one and the same document and (in English law in Section 3 of that Act) it is permissible for each independently to sign the identical copies of it when copies are exchanged.

There is a specific ‘exchange of contracts’ procedure in conveyancing that is normally followed. Once both of the parties sign the identical copies of the contract, the legal representative of the purchaser of the real estate first delivers the copy signed by his client to the legal representative of the seller.

There is involved in the process at this stage of conveyancing also the matter of the ‘deposit’ of the buyer, and this is attended to at the same time as the purchaser’s legal representative delivers the copy signed by his client ~the purchaser’s 10% deposit as a sign of good will and reasonable commitment to completing the purchase -this deposited 10% of the agreed selling price is forfeitable by the seller if the buyer without legal justification after all the processes above changes his mind and does not proceed to the conveyancing stage called ‘completion’.

The ‘exchange of contracts’ is not the final stage of conveyancing, and there are yet other matters to be attended.

But, now, the property is insurable by the buyer, and he can take out an insurance policy on the property if he wishes, although conveyancing is not yet complete he has not yet in law full possession of it, such as would entitle him legally to e.g. re-sell it.

In preparation for the ‘completion’ of conveyancing, the buyer’s legal representative now has to ensure that the seller has in law a good, legal, title to the property and is entitled in law to transfer by sale that title to the buyer. The buyer’s legal representative does so by now further investigating and also examining the title-deeds -e.g. from the Land Registry Office.

From the Land Register he checks such matters as any restrictions or mortgages or other third-party rights in law on the property to ensure in conveyancing that the purchase will pass on to his client a full title to the ownership of that property.

This is important to the buyer because, if there is e.g. a second-mortgage on the property and it is not redeemed by the seller in the course of conveyancing (usually from the proceeds of his sale of that property), any and all such rights of others on the property otherwise, unless fraud or forgery has been involved, become the buyer’s liability, if he does not take such a step reasonably seeking to discover them, and if, for example, there is a life-tenancy (where the law allows it) on it the buyer can not lawfully evict such a tenant by virtue of his being the property’s new owner.

In conveyancing it is normally for the buyer’s legal representative to prepare the title-deed of the transfer at ‘completion’.

‘Completion’ in conveyancing takes place on the day, previously agreed by the parties, when the buyer (or the lender for and on behalf of the purchaser if purchase is by mortgage)pays to the seller the remainder of the purchase price, and the seller gives to the buyer the title deed -and e.g. the keys.

The property, though, is still in law not the buyer’s. After the ‘completion’ in conveyancing he may take possession, e.g., if a house or a flat, he may move in, but subject to ‘registration’.

Once the conveyancing process is ;complete’ and the buyer or his legal representative registers the title in the Land Register, then, but only then, it becomes in law his, so long as lawfully he does so, to enjoy to his heart’s content.

Details of conveyancing vary from country to country, state to state; these are basic guidelines.The author has a website at: http://www.geocities.com/eoa_uk