Residential Property Sales

Your entire property sale at Ellisons will be handled by one individual from inception to post-completion ensuring you receive a comprehensive and personal service right from the start.

Residential Property Sales services

Approachable, efficient and experienced

The first stage after agreeing to sell, is to instruct a firm of solicitors; choosing the correct firm is vital and we would strongly recommend you do not rely purely on the cheapest quote. Having a good conveyancer who you can contact easily and trust, will make the process much easier. You should also advise your estate agent that we have been instructed. This will allow us to get all the initial paperwork out to you for completion and return, so that when the right offer comes in, the paperwork can be sent to the buyers’ solicitors without delay.

If the property is leasehold, we will write to the management company/managing agents requesting the management pack. There is usually a cost to this that varies dependent on each management company/managing agent. We will require you to make a payment on account for the same if they request payment upfront.

We will likely require your assistance with enquiries raised by the buyers’ solicitors if they are property specific, as we may not have the answers. We will also arrange for you to sign the Contract and Transfer so that no delay is caused later down the line when we are looking to exchange and complete. Once all of the enquiries are satisfied and both you and the buyers are ready, we will be in a position to exchange and fix the completion date. Then it's time to arrange removals and advise utility providers of your final date at the property, re-route post and cancel your home insurance.

Find out how much conveyancing will cost by requesting a quote from our team.

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Carly Callaghan

Legal Director, Solicitor & Head of Residential Property

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Residential Property Sales services

Completion day

On the day of completion, the funds will be sent by the buyers’ solicitors. Once we receive the monies, we will advise the estate agent to release the keys, as completion will have taken place. We will pay the estate agents, redeem your mortgage (if any) for you and issue the remaining proceeds of sale to you that day. If you are buying another property at the same time we can send the surplus to the sellers solicitors to speed up the process.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about what we offer

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Selling a property requires several essential legal stages managed by your conveyancing solicitor to transfer ownership safely. Once an offer is accepted, we draft the contract pack using your title deeds and completed property information forms (such as the TA6 and TA10), before sending this to the buyer’s solicitor. Our team then answers any legal enquiries raised by the buyer's team, liaises with your mortgage lender to request an up-to-date redemption figure, and coordinates an exchange of contracts once all parties are ready. On completion day, we receive the sale funds, settle any outstanding mortgage and estate agent fees, and transfer the remaining balance directly to your bank account.

A standard residential property sale typically takes around 12 to 16 weeks from accepting an offer through to completion, though timelines depend on chain length and buyer mortgage arrangements. You can significantly speed up the initial stages by instructing your solicitor early – even before securing a buyer – so that legal checks and property forms are completed in advance. Gathering key documents early, such as guarantees, planning permissions, building regulation certificates, and recent service charge statements for leasehold properties, helps prevent avoidable delays when answering buyer enquiries.

The costs involved in selling a property generally fall into legal fees, third-party disbursements, and existing financial obligations. Your conveyancing quote covers our legal work in preparing contracts and managing the transfer, alongside disbursements such as official HM Land Registry title copy documents. From the final sale proceeds, we also settle your outstanding mortgage balance (including any early repayment charges specified by your lender) and pay your estate agent’s fee on your behalf before releasing the remaining capital to you. We provide a clear statement outlining all figures prior to completion day so you have total clarity.

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