From Offer to Completion

Do it yourself

• Take every offer in writing and put every one to the seller. Sitting on offers is against the law, so you cannot filter them out yourself.
• Qualify the buyer: proof of funds or a mortgage agreement in principle, their position in any chain, and their timescale.
• Run your AML checks on the buyer at this stage, as part of your customer due diligence.
• Negotiate between the parties openly to reach an agreed price and terms, and keep a written note of every offer and counter.

Do it yourself

• Once an offer is agreed, produce the memorandum of sale confirming the price, both parties, and both sides’ solicitors.
• Send it to the buyer, seller and both conveyancers. They typically start their clock from receiving it.
• Confirm both parties have instructed a conveyancer. Recommend firms, but do not insist on a particular one.
• Mark the property Sold STC on the portals.

Do it yourself

• Set expectations up front. Conveyancing realistically takes eight to twelve weeks and often longer, frequently past sixteen with a chain. Say so rather than over-promise.
• Chase weekly. Speak to both parties, both solicitors, and every other agent up and down the chain to spot blockages early: searches, survey issues, a mortgage, a chain break.
• Keep buyer and seller informed on a regular cadence, so nerves do not kill the deal.
• Drive to exchange, where contracts become binding and the deposit is paid, then to completion, where the keys are released.
• Release your invoice only once the sale completes.

Do it yourself

• Reference the tenant for affordability, credit, and employer or previous-landlord history, then agree terms.
• Do Right to Rent checks in England, verifying every adult occupier’s status before the tenancy, under the Home Office code.
• Protect the deposit in a government-approved scheme (DPS, mydeposits or TDS) and serve the prescribed information within 30 days of receiving it. Missing this risks penalties of up to three times the deposit. The Tenant Fees Act also caps the deposit at five weeks’ rent for annual rent under £50,000 and bans most fees.
• Have the safety certificates in place before move-in: an annual Gas Safety record (CP12), an EICR every five years, working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and a valid EPC (minimum band E for now, but check the current MEES position as a rise toward band C is progressing). Then complete the inventory and move-in.
• Work to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, in force since 1 May 2026: tenancies are periodic assured tenancies, Section 21 is gone, and you cannot collect rent before the agreement is signed. Do not use the old fixed-term or Section 21 processes.