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 most lenders stopped holding house deeds in 2003, so if the house has changed hands since 2003, or if the seller has changed mortgage-lender since 2003, the chances are that he/she will have the house documents (and will have misplaced them - that's not usually a major problem but it can take time to reconstruct them from other sources).
2. The seller completes various property information forms - they deal with questions such as whether the boundaries have been moved, whether there have been alterations to the property, disputes with the neighbours, when the wheelie bins are emptied, and so on (more forms if the property is leasehold as the buyer will need to know about service charges, whether any large items of estate expenditure are anticipated within the next couple of years, etc) - completes a fixtures, fittings and contents form (what's staying/going), searches for old planning documents if there have been alterations at the property and copies of utility accounts, and delivers these to the his/her solicitor.
3. The seller's solicitor sends out the contract, a plan of property and other supporting documents to the buyer's solicitor, including the forms completed by the seller and copies of any relevant guarantees. Either the solicitor of the seller's estate agent will provide the buyer's solicitor with a copy of the Home Information Pack. No one is ever remotely interested in the contents of the Home Information Pack apart from the 2 searches which it contain. These are (a) the local authority search (these are sometimes in date and may be accurate). The local search is addressed to the local authority and will reveal the planning history of the property; whether the road outside is maintainable at public expense; whether there are any local land charges registered (did you know that if the local authority carries out pest control at the property and you fail to pay, it can register a charge against the property a bit like a mortgage?); whether there are special restrictions on kind of building work you can undertake at the property and other fascinating matters which may directly affect your use and enjoyment (lawyerspeak for "value") of the property; and (b) a drainage/water search which confirms whether the property is connected to mains water and drainage, shows where the nearest public main/drain is (you have to maintain the private stretches of pipes until the main connection), may give information as to whether there are public sewers within the boundaries of the property and gives information as to the quality of water supplied to the property .
4. The buyer's solicitor applies for an environmental search. Its main purpose is to assess the risk that the property may be designated contaminated land by the local authority. If the property has been built on or near a former industrial site or a site such as a hospital then this can be a serious risk. If the property is designated as contaminated then it is very bad news: the owner at the time becomes responsible for de-contaminating the land at his/her own cost.
The search will also assess the risk of flooding or subsidence based on the geology of the area; and there is interesting information on such matters as the proximity of radon gas. The search does not involve a physical inspection of the property but is a postcode database search and is usually returned within a day or two. 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. 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.
5. The buyer's solicitor also raises enquiries of the seller's solicitor (these vary according tothe solicitor and the buyer but generally along the lines of: has the property suffered from damp, subsidence,etc? When are the wheelie bins emptied? Is the property haunted?); and, if the property is leasehold, enquiries of the freeholder.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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!
13. 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.