🏡 Selling a Home: What Happens After You Accept an Offer?

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• Posted on 15th September 2026
• Category: Property Blog

Accepting an offer is a big milestone, but there are still several stages to work through before the sale completes and the keys are handed over.

If you’re selling through Leightons, our involvement doesn’t stop when the board changes to Sold. We’ll progress the sale throughout, keeping in regular contact with you, your buyer, solicitors and other estate agents in the chain.

Here’s what happens next.

📄 1. The Memorandum of Sale

Once you’ve accepted an offer, we’ll make sure we have everything required from both you and your buyer.

This includes details of the solicitors or conveyancers acting for both parties. If you haven’t already instructed a solicitor or conveyancer, you’ll need to do this before we can issue the Memorandum of Sale.

Once everything is in place, we’ll issue the Memorandum of Sale to you, your buyer and both sets of solicitors or conveyancers. This confirms the agreed price and the main details of the transaction so the legal process can get underway.

It’s important to remember that accepting an offer does not make the sale legally binding. In England and Wales, this generally happens when contracts are exchanged.

⚖️ 2. Get the Legal Work Underway

Although your solicitor or conveyancer will already have been instructed, they’ll need information from you before they can prepare the legal paperwork.

They will normally ask you to complete their client care requirements, identification and anti money laundering checks and various forms relating to the property.

Try to deal with these requests as quickly as possible. The sooner your solicitor has everything they need, the sooner they can prepare the contract pack and send it to your buyer’s solicitor.

✍️ 3. Complete Your Property Forms

Your solicitor or conveyancer will normally send you several forms to complete.

For most residential sales these include:

• TA6 Property Information Form. This provides detailed information about the property, including matters such as boundaries, disputes, alterations, guarantees, rights, parking and services.
• TA10 Fittings and Contents Form. This records what is included and excluded from the sale.
• TA7 Leasehold Information Form. This will normally also be required if you’re selling a leasehold property.

The current TA6 is the 6th edition, introduced for new transactions from 30 March 2026 under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme.

Take your time when completing these forms and answer the questions as accurately as possible. If you’re unsure how to answer something, ask your solicitor rather than guessing.

It can also help to provide any relevant paperwork you have for the property, such as planning permissions, building regulation documents, guarantees, warranties or certificates for work carried out.

📑 4. The Contract Pack Is Issued

Once your solicitor has the information they need, they can prepare the contract pack and send it to your buyer’s solicitor or conveyancer.

Depending on the property, this will usually contain documents such as:

• The draft contract
• Title information
• TA6 Property Information Form
• TA10 Fittings and Contents Form
• Relevant supporting documents
• Additional information for leasehold or managed properties where applicable

This gives the buyer’s solicitor the information they need to begin their legal investigation of the property.

🔎 5. Searches and Enquiries

Your buyer’s solicitor will review the contract papers and title and arrange the appropriate searches.

They may then raise enquiries with your solicitor.

These are questions about the property or legal title and could relate to things such as boundaries, rights of way, alterations, planning permissions, guarantees, services or information revealed by the searches.

Your solicitor may need your help to answer some of them.

Don’t be alarmed if there are quite a few enquiries. They form a normal part of the conveyancing process. The buyer’s solicitor is investigating the property on behalf of their client and, where there’s a mortgage, will also have requirements from the buyer’s lender to satisfy.

Some enquiries can be answered quickly. Others may require documents or information from third parties and can take longer.

🔗 6. Keeping the Chain Moving

This is where sales progression becomes particularly important.

A property chain can involve several buyers, sellers, solicitors, mortgage lenders, surveyors and estate agents. Each transaction needs to progress sufficiently before the whole chain can exchange contracts.

At Leightons, one member of our team is responsible for progressing your sale from start to finish.

We’ll keep in regular contact with you, your buyer, both sets of solicitors and other estate agents in the chain. We’ll establish where everyone has reached, what’s still outstanding and what needs to happen next.

We’ll also provide regular updates so you’re not left wondering what’s happening.

Not every delay can be avoided, but good communication can identify problems early and help prevent transactions from simply drifting.

🏦 7. Your Buyer’s Mortgage and Survey

If your buyer needs a mortgage, their lender will usually arrange a mortgage valuation and, once satisfied with the application and property, issue a formal mortgage offer.

Your buyer may also arrange their own survey.

If a survey identifies something the buyer is concerned about, they may ask for further information, specialist reports or occasionally want to discuss the agreed price.

If that happens, we’ll deal with the buyer and discuss the situation with you.

✍️ 8. Getting Ready to Exchange Contracts

Once the legal work is sufficiently progressed, the solicitors will start working towards exchange of contracts.

By this stage, matters such as the following will normally need to be in place:

• Enquiries have been satisfactorily dealt with
• The buyer’s mortgage offer is available, if required
• Any significant survey issues have been resolved
• The necessary legal documents have been signed
• Everyone in the chain is ready
• A completion date has been agreed

If you’re also buying another property, your sale and purchase will normally need to be coordinated with the rest of the chain.

🤝 9. Exchange of Contracts

Exchange of contracts is the point at which the transaction becomes legally binding.

Your solicitor exchanges contracts with your buyer’s solicitor and the agreed completion date becomes fixed.

Until exchange, either party can generally withdraw from the transaction without the contractual consequences that apply afterwards. Once contracts have exchanged, both buyer and seller are legally committed.

At this point, you finally have certainty about your moving date.

📦 10. Getting Ready for Completion

Between exchange and completion, you’ll need to make your final preparations for moving.

Unless something different has been agreed as part of the contract, the property should be left in the condition agreed and any belongings that aren’t included in the sale should be removed.

Your TA10 Fittings and Contents Form will record what you’ve agreed to leave and take with you.

Make sure you’re completely moved out and that all keys are left with us as agreed.

🔑 11. Completion Day

On completion day, the buyer’s solicitor transfers the purchase money to your solicitor.

Once your solicitor has received the funds, they’ll confirm that the transaction has completed and authorise us to release the keys to your buyer.

Your solicitor will then deal with matters such as repaying any mortgage secured against the property and settling the relevant costs from the sale proceeds before sending the remaining balance to you.

Your property is officially sold.

📖 A Few Selling Terms Explained

Memorandum of Sale
A document issued by the estate agent confirming the main details of the agreed transaction, including the agreed price and details of the buyer, seller and their respective solicitors or conveyancers.

TA6 Property Information Form
The main property information form completed by the seller. It provides the buyer and their solicitor with detailed information about the property. The current version is the TA6 6th edition.

TA10 Fittings and Contents Form
The form used to record which fixtures, fittings and other items are included or excluded from the sale.

TA7 Leasehold Information Form
An additional form generally completed when selling a leasehold property, providing information relevant to the leasehold arrangements.

Contract Pack
The legal paperwork prepared by the seller’s solicitor and sent to the buyer’s conveyancer so they can begin investigating the property and transaction.

Searches
Checks arranged by the buyer’s conveyancer to obtain further information about the property and its surrounding area.

Enquiries
Questions raised by the buyer’s conveyancer after reviewing the contract papers, title, searches and other information relating to the property.

TR1 Transfer Deed
The legal document used to transfer ownership of a registered property from the seller to the buyer.

Mortgage Offer
The formal offer issued by the buyer’s mortgage lender confirming the mortgage they’re prepared to provide, subject to its terms and conditions.

Exchange of Contracts
The point at which the buyer and seller become legally committed to the transaction and the completion date is fixed.

Completion
The final stage of the transaction. The purchase money is transferred and legal ownership passes from the seller to the buyer. Once completion has been confirmed, the keys can be released.

🏠 Selling Through Leightons

Agreeing a sale is only part of an estate agent’s job.

From the moment we agree your sale, one member of our team will take responsibility for progressing it through to completion. We’ll keep in regular contact with everyone involved, provide updates and work to identify and resolve problems as early as possible.

The aim is simple. To get from Sold Subject to Contract to completion with everyone knowing what’s happening along the way.

Thanks for reading
Michael