This is usually the first question asked and is difficult to answer, as all transactions are different.

A usual estimate for a mortgage transaction is 4-6 weeks to exchange contracts and a further 1-2 weeks to complete.

We will do what we can to complete your transaction as quickly as possible.

We will endeavour to keep you informed at all stages of the progress of your transaction.

If at any time you have any queries, then please do not hesitate to telephone or email your conveyancer. Their contact details will be contained within your initial letter.

We are required under Money Laundering Regulations to verify your identity to guard against money laundering and fraud.

When you are purchasing with a mortgage, we are also required to verify your identity as part of our instructions. The Land Registry also requires us to verify identity.

We will usually carry out the following searches before exchanging contracts:

• A Local Authority Search of the local land charges registers. This includes responses to several questions and, among other things, will reveal the property's planning history and whether the road on which the property sits is a public highway.
• A Drainage and Water Search, which reveals whether the property is connected to mains water and drainage.
• An Environmental Search, which reveals whether records show the property is potentially contaminated land.

Depending on the nature and location of the property, we may also carry out other searches, such as a search to determine whether the property has a potential liability to contribute towards the maintenance costs of the local church chancel or a coal mining search.

Before completion, we will carry out a search at the Land Registry to ensure that nothing has altered with the title and to ensure that any application we will be making to register the transaction has priority over any other potential transactions.

Fridays are the traditional day to complete, and the majority of transactions are still completed on a Friday. This is because it allows people to unpack over the weekend.

We can complete a transaction on any working day. Transactions cannot be completed on weekends or on bank holidays as we need the bank to be open to transfer funds.

In many cases, a purchaser asks for access to a property before completion. If this is to measure for carpets and curtains, then this can often be arranged with the Estate Agent or directly with the seller.

When a property is empty, you may need access to begin decorating or other work. We can ask for such access, although the seller has no duty to give access prior to completion. In any event, it is unlikely and would not be our advice to either party for access to be granted before the exchange of contracts.

Until contracts are exchanged, either party can withdraw from the transaction without giving a reason.

If a party withdraws after the exchange of contracts but before completion, compensation may be available.

A seller will typically expect a deposit of 10% of the purchase price to be paid on the exchange of contracts. However, in many cases, a lesser deposit will be agreed.

Where a transaction is part of a chain of transactions, typically, the deposit which is used will be the deposit coming up from the bottom of the chain, which will be passed up the chain.

Where a deposit of less than 10% is accepted, then if a buyer fails to complete on time, they will be liable immediately for the balance of the 10%.

The deposit, which is agreed, is payable on exchange of contracts.

The transaction does not become legally binding until we exchange contracts.

Exchange of contracts typically occurs when the solicitors for each party agree over the telephone to date the documents. This makes the transaction legally binding and means that a party who fails to complete will be liable for breach of contract.

In the majority of cases, your mortgage lender will be happy to instruct us to act for them as well as for you in the transaction. This saves time and money by avoiding duplicate work.

In these cases, we are obliged to report to your lender. However, if there is a conflict of interest which arises, then we would cease to act for your lender.

We always recommend conducting a survey.

If you are purchasing with a mortgage, then the lender will arrange for a valuation to be carried out. We do not recommend that you rely on this, as such a report does not consider the condition of the property.

It is possible to obtain a more detailed Home Survey and Valuation Report, or for older properties, a full building survey. These can often be carried out by the same surveyor for an additional fee.

This will usually be required where there is a mortgage, and there will be adult occupiers of the property who are not owners.

This will be a requirement of your lender, as it is possible for occupiers to obtain rights in a property. By signing the consent, they are confirming that if you default on the mortgage, they will vacate the property. They may be required to seek independent legal advice before signing the consent.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the tax payable on all land transactions which exceed the thresholds.

We will confirm the tax payable on your transaction at the outset.

Since 1925, there has been a gradual process of Land Registration in the UK.

The majority of residential properties are now registered at the Land Registry, which means that we can obtain copies of the deeds online. However, a minority of properties which have not been sold for some time are still unregistered. These properties will have paper deeds which may be held by a mortgage lender, solicitors or the property owner. For these properties, the deeds will need to be obtained and will be submitted to the Land Registry for compulsory registration on completion of the transaction.

Broadly speaking, the majority of houses are sold freehold, and the majority of flats are sold leasehold.

The freehold of a property is the ownership of the land itself.

If you are purchasing a residential leasehold property, then you will become the tenant of the property under a new lease, or you will purchase the remainder of an existing lease. The Landlord of this lease will own the freehold.

These leases will be long-term. They will have been granted originally for a term which could be anything from 99 to 999 years. In the case of flats, it is usual for the title to be leasehold as this allows the Landlord to maintain responsibility for the building as a whole.

When you purchase a property in joint names, you can do so in two ways.

If you purchase the property as Joint Tenants, then, in the event of the death of one owner, the remaining owner or owners receive the deceased's share automatically. Thus, if a husband and wife own the property as Beneficial Joint Tenants, as is normally the case, and one of them dies, then the survivor automatically becomes the sole owner of the property. This occurs regardless of what the deceased's will states.

If you purchase as Tenants in Common, then each party will have a distinct share of the property, which can be passed through their will. A tenancy in common can be in equal shares, or if the shares are not to be unequal, we can prepare a Declaration of Trust to confirm how the sale proceeds will be divided.

When a developer sells a property that is not yet built, they will usually require a quick exchange of contracts. Completion will be on short notice once the property is completed, normally 10 working days, but could be less.

You should stay in touch with the developer to monitor the building.

When you are purchasing with a mortgage, it is important to ensure that your mortgage offer is in place prior to the exchange of contracts and that this does not expire before completion.

When we have finalised a completion date, we will prepare a completion statement and advise you whether we require any funds from you to complete.

Where you are selling, we will obtain a redemption figure for your existing account and obtain an invoice for any Estate Agents' fees.

Where you are purchasing, we will request the mortgage funds.

If we require any funds from you to complete these, they will need to be in our account in cleared funds no later than the day before completion.

Completion itself is a transfer of funds. We will advise you once this has been completed, and when you are purchasing, we will advise you that the keys are available to be collected.

Following completion, your transaction will be registered at the Land Registry. The Land Registry should keep copies of all necessary documents of title, and therefore, in the majority of cases, anything required for a future sale can be obtained from them.

We will provide you with a copy of the completed Land Registry entries following completion. We will also forward to you any original deeds and documents which we receive. You should keep these in a safe place as they may still come in useful for future transactions.