Selling your home at the best of times can be challenging, but right now, we appreciate many vendors wonder whether it is worth the time and effort to bring their house to market. There are buyers looking for property, and many vendors know there are steps you can take to connect with prospective buyers.
A popular way for vendors to draw attention to their home is through kerb appeal. An attractive garden captures people’s imagination and before a buyer steps foot inside a property, they can develop a positive feeling towards a home.
Legal kerb appeal delivers the same outcome, but in a very different manner. If you want to learn more about legal kerb appeal, and why it is vital in developing confidence in prospective buyers, let Hunters West Hampstead assist you sell your home.
What is legal kerb appeal?
Legal kerb appeal, in the words of Chris Salmon, who is a co-founder and Director of Quittance Legal Services, is; “Simply, legal kerb appeal is the strengths of the property when considered from a legal perspective. Legal kerb appeal could also involve proactively addressing any potential legal issues before a buyer is found.”
In an interview conducted on the Property Road website, Chris was asked about what vendors should look to do to ensure they are ready to sell their home in the near future.
Chris responded by saying; “If you are on or are thinking of going on the market, we’re pushing the concept of ‘legal kerb appeal’. Sellers will be entering a buyers’ market, and must do everything they can to improve their chances not only of finding a buyer, but also completing the sale.”
He continued by saying; “For example, if the property has a roof terrace without planning permission, the buyer’s solicitor will pick this up. Instead, the seller’s solicitor can identify a suitable indemnity policy and offer it as part of the sale. This proactive approach will reassure buyers and avoid delays later in the process.”
How will the housing market move forward?
Chris was also asked about what he thinks will happen in the property market when the industry moves forward. He said; “The consensus is that the pent-up demand that emerged shortly after the 2019 election will gradually resume. It’s very likely that in-progress transactions will suffer a logjam as capacity challenged property services firms struggle to fulfil a rush of requests for searches, surveys and managing agent information. We anticipate significant delays for up to a few months after the lockdown eases.”
Follow these steps in managing legal kerb appeal
Legal kerb appeal has been discussed by a lot of industry sources of late, and it is a logical issue for vendors to consider. If you want to stay on top of the legal kerb appeal of your property, please consider the following steps:
· Complete all property transaction forms
· Anticipate which problems are likely to occur, and resolve them
· Involve external parties and management agents as quickly as possible
· Collate all documents as early as possible
· Start the process of recovering or replacing missing documents as early as possible
· Agents, vendors and legal professionals should work together to find solutions
The earlier you start, the better
As with most things in life, and certainly as with many things in the sales process, the sooner you start, the better. When it comes to legal kerb appeal, the sooner you start to put things in order, the better for you.
