Of course you do.
The conveyancing process can be completed, start to finish, in a single day. But it's rather stressful and very expensive.
In the usual case, here's what takes the time:
1. The seller may have to obtain the title deeds from his/her lender. Increasingly, this isn't necessary as lenders tend these days not to store the house deeds. But if the lender is storing important documents, then it can take a while for the seller's solicitor to retrieve them. Worst situation is where the lender has in the previous few months changed lender. In that case, the title documents could be anywhere between the solicitors who dealt with the new loan, the Land Registry and the new lender.
2. The seller completes two forms (three if the property is leasehold), searches for his/her latest water bill, and delivers these to the his/her solicitor. Why the water bill? It's a cheap and easy way of establishing that the property is connected to mains drainage. Cesspits and septic tanks are subjects guaranteed to make the seasoned conveyancer misty-eyed: we shall by-pass them on this occasion.
2. The seller's solcitor sends out the contract, a plan of property (the buyer's solicitor needs this for the local search) and other supporting documents to the buyer's solicitor, including the forms completed by the seller and copies of any relevant guarantees.
3. The buyer's solicitor applies for the local and environmental searches. This takes about 1-2 weeks. The solicitor may also undertake other searches, depending on the type and location of the property: commons search if the property is newly built or adjoining open land; mining search if there's a risk of a history of mining in the area; drainage search if the water bill hasn't been forthcoming and there's a suspicion the property isn't on mains drainage. Lenders will require solicitors to undertake bankruptcy searches on the buyer (at the buyer's expense, of course). Other searches are available to suit most tastes.
4. The buyer's solicitor also raises enquiries of the seller's solicitor, and, if the property is leasehold, enquiries of the freeholder.
5. We wait for the buyer's mortgage offer. We wait for the buyer's survey (if he/she is having one in addition to the mortgage valuation report ). The buyer may wish to negotiate further on the price if the survey or valuation comes up with something unexpected which devalues the property.
6. The buyer's solicitor sends his/her report on the legal title to the buyer. This advises on the searches and enquiries, the mortgage offer and any other relevant matters. It will also usually enclose the contract and the mortgage deed for the buyer to sign and return to the solicitor.
7. The buyer may wish to meet the solicitor to discuss the report and any other matters. Or the buyer may be content to deal with everything by post. At some stage in the transaction, the buyer will have to show his/her/their face in the solicitor's office to comply with money laundering regulations. These regulations require the solicitor to identify his/her client. The buyer will be asked to produce documentary ID evidence such as a passport and a utility account or bank statement.
8. Meanwhile, the above process is being replicated up and down the chain of transactions. The parties' respective estate agents run up and down the chain like medieval slave-drivers hustling the parties and their solicitors. A concensus emerges as to the date for completion.
9. The parties are then in a position to exchange. All
the parties in the chain have to exchange simultaneously. This isn't a legal requirement, but it's recommended: few things are more embarrassing than to exchange on one's purchase only to find that the people buying one's own property have decided not to proceed after all.
10. The buyer's solicitor will request the mortgage money from the lender. They usually ask for 5 - 7 working days' notice of this, but the more helpful of them can sometimes be persuaded to produce the money sooner. You'll also be asked for the balance of any money needed to finalise the transaction, including the solicitor's fees and other expenses such as stamp duty. The solicitor will require these in cleared funds on or before the completion date.
11. On the day of completion, the buyer's solicitor will electronically transfer the purchase money to the seller's solicitor's bank. The contract will provide the latest
time by which the money must be received (usually between 12 noon and 2.00 pm). But the property belongs to the buyer as soon as the money is received by the seller's solicitor. If all is working well, the seller will by then have vacated the property and will have decamped to his/her removal van. In practice, a degree of flexiblity and generosity of spirit is required while the seller frantically runs round with boxes and attends to last-minute clearing-up. The seller's solicitor notifies the estate agent that the money has come through and authorises the agent to release the keys to the buyer. Bingo!
12. Is that it? Nearly. The buyer's solicitor then arranges for the stamp duty to be paid and for the transaction to be registered at the Land Registry.