What you actually get
The three things people ring up about
You don't pay until it sells
The bulk of our fee comes out of the sale on completion. Searches are the exception - we buy those from someone else on your behalf - and your quote says exactly what is due when.
You never have to come in
Post, email and video call, start to finish. Executors in different cities, or different countries, is normal for us and does not slow anything down.
We do the chasing
A named conveyancer, on their own phone and their own email. When the buyer's solicitor goes quiet or a council sits on a search, that is ours to fix - not something we report back to you.
If someone has died
Selling a house after a death
You can start before the grant arrives. The house can be marketed, a buyer found and nearly all the legal work done while probate is still with the Registry. Only completion has to wait. Firms that start afterwards routinely add two or three months for no reason.
We confirm who is entitled to sell first, before a buyer is waiting on it - which is the single most common reason a probate sale collapses late.
If you are separating
Selling as part of a divorce
We can deal with each of you separately, so neither has to pass messages through the other. If a court order sets the terms, send it over at the start and we work to it.
If one of you stops responding, tell us early. There are ways forward, up to an order compelling the sale, but they take time - which is exactly why early beats polite.
If Sail Homes sent you
You are not obliged to use us
Sail Homes clients can instruct any conveyancer they like, and nobody will make it awkward. We are a separate company - Sail Legal Limited, regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers under licence 14065.
What you get by using both is that we start earlier. The legal work begins while the house is still being marketed rather than after an offer, which is where most of the saved time comes from.
Who you'll deal with
Real people, and you get the same one throughout
The people who will actually handle your file. You get a named one, and the same one throughout.
Edwina Homfray-Davies
Head of Legal Practice
Dominique Grapin
Conveyancer
Gemma Pitman
Conveyancer
Jess Nixon
Conveyancer
Amanda Spear
Legal Administrator
Wendy Brown
Chief Operating Officer
Questions
What people ask us first
What will it actually cost me?
The legal fee is £700 + VAT on homes up to £175,000, rising to £950 + VAT at £800,000, and higher above that. Disbursements - searches, Land Registry fees, the bank transfer - are listed separately at cost, not marked up. The quote takes two minutes and gives you the exact number for your property.
Do I have to pay anything before the house sells?
Almost nothing. The bulk of the fee comes out of the sale on completion. Searches are usually paid earlier because we are buying them from a third party for you. Your quote sets out what is payable and when, before you instruct us.
Can we start before the grant of probate comes through?
Yes, and you should. Marketing, finding a buyer and nearly all the legal work can happen while the grant is pending. Only completion waits for it.
Can you do it if I live abroad?
Yes. Post, email and video call throughout - you never need to fly back, and executors in different countries is routine rather than a complication.
Is the fee really fixed?
The legal fee we quote is the legal fee you pay. It does not move because the title turned out to be unregistered or the buyer's solicitor asked for more. Anything that depends on your circumstances - leasehold, new build, a company buying - is shown on the quote before you instruct us, not added later.
Are you regulated?
Sail Legal Limited is regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers under licence 14065, and you can check that on the CLC's public register. Licensed conveyancers are property law specialists, regulated to the same standard as solicitors for this work, with the same compulsory insurance and client money rules.
Get the exact number
Two minutes, no callback needed, and it is yours to keep.