Nicola Kelland - Paperwork

Is your paperwork in order?

If you are thinking about selling in the future, one of the most important things you need to do is to check all the paperwork on your property. What I mean by paperwork are the records held by council on your property and your title. Sometimes when I am about to take a property to the market to be sold, I find a problem, which at best can delay the sale process by a few weeks or even months, or it may seriously affect the price that can be achieved.

The two main items of paperwork where I find issues are, the Certificates of Title, especially cross lease titles and details contained in the Land Information Memorandums (LIMs).

In the case of cross lease titles, over the years, additions may have been done to a property, often with all the consents in place, but the owners have forgotten or failed to realise that these additions, if altering the footprint of the property, must be shown on the flats plan. Sometimes these defective titles have remained like that through several owners, with many not realising that there is a problem. It is only when they are selling their home and the issue is raised by a prospective purchaser, salesperson or lawyer that they are made aware.

Rectifying the title can take time and issues can arise, so my advice to any homeowner looking to sell their property, is to get a new copy of your title and consult your legal advisors, to make sure there is nothing that is going to impede the sale process.

It is standard practice now for purchasers and their advisors to interrogate a LIM for the property that they are considering purchasing. I often find that homeowners have never seen a copy of the LIM for their property before the sale process begins. Many believe that the alterations they did several years ago were “all signed off” but on obtaining the LIM, realise that final Code Compliance Certificates are outstanding. This can create a number of problems for owners and certainly delays in the sale process while CCC’s or a Certificate of Acceptance are sought.

So check all your paperwork, and seek legal advice if you find there are some issues, well before the sale process begins.