No sale no fee agreements ensure you will not be charged legal fees unless your property transaction is carried out in full; if there’s no sale, there’s no fee. You may have also heard of it as no move no fee or no completion no fee.
In this kind of agreement, you are only required to pay for additional costs, such as searches undertaken by your solicitor. These costs will typically be arranged and agreed upon with your solicitor in advance, so there won’t be any nasty surprises.
Reasons for Abandonment of the Transaction
Of course, if you change your mind on a transaction and withdraw, it won’t go through. But you aren’t the only party involved: transactions can be perfectly researched, discussed and arranged but fall through at the last second if any other party involved withdraws.
The transaction isn’t simply buyers and sellers either, but also solicitors, estate agents and mortgage brokers. Transactions can be aborted by any of these parties, meaning there are plenty of aspects to consider to try and mitigate this. More information on estate agents’ roles in the transaction can be found at hoa.org.
Changes in circumstance can affect any of the parties involved. A buyer losing their job could be incapable of following through with a transaction, for example, and deaths, divorces or any other significant changes can also end arrangements.
Disagreements or changes of mind can also occur at any stage in the process, and depending on the severity, can completely shut down negotiations.
Even something as simple as a delay in the transaction or failure to meet buying/selling deadlines can end the agreement.
If any of the parties involved abort in any of these instances, the transaction falls apart, and any fees would usually be paid in vain. This is where no sale no fee conveyancing comes in.
This article cannot cover all the complexities of this agreement, but professional independent legal advice and solicitors are available online, such as the services listed on https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/news/conveyancing/no-sale-no-fee-conveyancing-153.
Transaction Costs
To prevent you from being unfairly charged for legal fees you may have incurred despite a transaction falling apart, no sale no fee conveyancing enables you to retain your funds until the transaction is fully completed.
As mentioned before, some arranged costs can occur, but not nearly as much as under regular circumstances; thousands of pounds can be racked up in costs without an agreement even being reached on occasion, which may also affect future attempts at transactions.
Once you’ve arranged a conveyance, you will not be held liable for fees, which not only helps prevent potentially devastating losses but also dispels any feelings of anxiety towards the outcome.
