Keeping more sales together
Reducing unnecessary delay. One of the most widely discussed challenges in residential property sales is this: How to move transactions to exchange and completion more safely, and more quickly. Despite huge advances in technology, the average time from sale agreed to exchange is now longer than it was ten or even twenty years ago. Not because the process is more complex, but because too much of it still starts after a buyer is found. Waiting creates risk. Momentum fades. Doubt creeps in. Other options appear. Our view is simple: the strongest sales are the ones that are prepared early.
Our Solution: Being Sale-Ready
When you choose Cooke Curtis & Co, we begin our onboarding process immediately, not once a buyer is found. This saves vital days. What happens at the outset: 1. You receive all required agreements and documentation promptly 2. A member of our onboarding team contacts you personally 3. We complete the legally required Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks early, removing duplication later and 4. Once this is in place, you are invited to use one of our panel solicitors.
Why this matters
By working with a panel solicitor from the outset: 1. AML checks do not need to be repeated 2. Legal preparation begins before a sale is agreed 3. Critical documents are ready in advance, including: Title deeds and Land Registry information, Draft contract documentation and Local authority searches. As soon as a sale is agreed, the full legal pack can be issued immediately to the buyer’s solicitor.
The practical impact
This single change typically removes two to four weeks of avoidable waiting at the most fragile stage of a transaction ensuring both speed and security. Trust us when we say those early weeks really matter. They are when buyer commitment is highest, and when uncertainty is most damaging.
Nationally, sale-to-exchange times commonly extend well beyond twelve weeks. Transactions handled through our panel solicitors average around seven weeks from sale agreed to exchange. That difference is not about rushing. It is about removing idle time where nothing productive is happening, except risk increasing. Our process is as rapid as it is rigorous.
Why speed protects your sale: 1. Less time for buyers to lose confidence 2. Fewer opportunities for competing properties to distract 3. Stronger momentum through surveys, enquiries, and chains and 4. A calmer, more controlled journey to exchange
Prepared sales stay together. Unprepared sales drift.
A simple conclusion
If you are a motivated seller, being Sale-Ready is one of the most effective decisions you can make. The first is choosing the right agent, we know a good one! The second is ensuring your sale is ready to move the moment a buyer commits. If you would like to understand whether this approach is right for your circumstances, one of our team will be happy to talk it through, clearly and without obligation.
