Selling your home

At Cooper Brouard we know that excellent presentation and good exposure through the internet and the printed media are vital for the effective marketing of your home.  

We use professional quality digital cameras and concise literary styles to produce our acclaimed property details.

The most up to date agency computer programmes ensures those details can be on your buyer’s doorstep or inbox without delay.

Accompanied viewings and swift feedback keep you informed at all times.

The combined experience of our negotiating team allows us to offer the best advice when negotiating your sale.

 

Top quality cameras and photography

Example floor plan

 

 

An agency with a truly personal service.

You have probably already been looking at properties, on websites or in the printed media, that offer you the size and facilities you require so the next stage is to find out what you can afford to buy.

1. If you already own a property arrange for us to give you a free verbal valuation.  To speed up the buying process some owners ask us to take sales particulars of their property in readiness to put on the market when they find a home to buy.  Some also choose to sell before they buy and rent for a period of time while they house hunt.  This puts them in a strong position as they are “cash buyers”.

2. Speak to a bank or financial advisor who will ask for bank statements and utility bills to assess the level of lending they will allow.  Do not be afraid to shop around and have other offers from more than one lender for comparison.

3. Continue house hunting :  Guernsey has a relatively small supply of property on the market at any one time so don’t be too rigid in your requirements or you will have very little to view.  The more properties you view the easier it is recognise value for money and how realistic your expectations are; you may be pleasantly surprised by a property you did not like on the particulars.

4. When you find your dream home, if you are a first time or cash buyer make an offer, if you have a property to sell before you can buy contact us to get your property on the market as quickly as possible; when you have an offer on your own property you can make an offer on the property you wish to buy. 
   
   If you are selling in the UK it is worth noting that the sale process in Guernsey moves more swiftly than on the mainland and you will need to have at least exchanged contracts in the UK before committing to conditions of sale in Guernsey.

5.  Your offer may need to be subject to a satisfactory survey of the property, finance approval from your lender, licence to occupy the property, but definitely must be subject to property matters which include your advocate’s searches of the title of the property.  You will also need to agree a completion date.  This is the day on which the property will be conveyed to you in the court and on which you will take possession.

6. After an offer has been accepted, as agents, we will prepare a standard contract and inventory of personalty being left in the property, known as conditions of sale. This sets out the terms of the sale, the completion date and an operative date by which you must have had your survey, finance and any other conditions agreed.  (Normally 14 working days).  At this point you should contact your lender with details of the house and ask them to arrange a survey of the property promptly.    It should be noted that there is no binding legal contract between you and the seller until conditions of sale have been signed by both parties and you have paid your deposit.

7. As a buyer you must instruct an advocate to act on your behalf. You will be allocated a conveyancing clerk who will ensure that the conditions of sale have been prepared correctly, the ownership of the property is clear and that boundaries are as described on the title deeds.  They will also advise at which point you can sign conditions of sale and pay a deposit.  This is normally 10% of the purchase price, but with the sellers approval this can be reduced to 5%.

8. Buying Costs;  You will have to pay document duty and advocates fees on the realty price (purchase price less the value of the items on the inventory) of the property you are purchasing and a fee to the court for registering any bonds in favour of your lender.

• Document Duty payable via your advocates to The States of Guernsey at 2% on a property price up to £150,000, 2.5% on a property price from £150,001 up to £250,000 and 3% from £250,001 and above.
• Advocates Fees; 0.75% on the realty price plus £202.50
• Bond Fees Cost of registering bond in favour of your lender at £7 per £1000 pounds borrowed plus £147.50.

These figures are a fair indication of the likely costs incurred in purchasing but your conveyancing clerk can provide you with an exact calculation.

9. Once conditions of sale are signed and binding there a few things to put in place before going to court.

• Arrange House/contents insurance. 
• Arrange Life insurance for the mortgage, this and the house insurance may be required by your lender before they issue their mortgage facility letter.
• Obtain estimates from removal companies.
• Advise water, telephone, gas, oil, electricity suppliers to arrange final readings at your current home and arrange supply and billing in your new home.  Empty cesspool at existing home.
• Re-direct post to new address.  
• Leave contact numbers for tradesman who have worked in you existing home
• Leave instructions and guarantees for appliances being left in your existing house.
• Advise change of address to:

Friends, relations and neighbours.
Bank, building society, credit card company
Tax and social security offices.
Doctor, dentist, vets etc.
Medical and other insurances.
Employers
Schools secretary
Clubs and associations
Premium Bonds, National Savings, stocks and shares reistrars
Pension companies
Your purchaser.
Standing orders i.e. sky TV, HP providers
 

10. With all these in place it only remains for you to arrive at your advocates offices just after 9.00 am on the completion date.  You will have received a statement from them detailing the balance of the purchase price that you are required to pay.  You will be taken to the Royal Court and in front of a Jurat, you and the vendor will give your consent to the conveyance of the property.  If you are borrowing money the same process is repeated for the bond.