The pack contains the deeds for the property plus the usual searches and also copies of all other relevant documents such as planning permissions and rental agreements.

The vendor compiles the legal pack so it's your responsibility to instruct a solicitor to compile the pack for your property. Try to find a solicitor who can act quickly and is familiar with property auctions, in particular the ‘Common Auction Conditions’. This can be harder than it sounds. Finding a solicitor who is also an investor is ideal. You can search for a solicitor using the law society's website.

You need to decide if any Special Conditions apply to the auction of your property.

Many properties sold at auction are subject to 'Special Conditions' over and above other 'Common Conditions'. For example, some Special Conditions stipulate a completion date of 14 days rather than 28 days or require the buyer to pay the vendor's costs associated with the transaction.

You will need to confer with your solicitor to agree what Special Conditions, if any, are required. These then need to be fed into the legal pack.

For many properties sold at auction the 'Special Conditions' are made available quite late on, close to the date of auction.

Try to prepare well in advance to maximise interest in your property. However, it is also true that a surprising number of bidders bid 'on spec' on the day without having seen the property or familiarised themselves with the contents of the legal pack.

As you are hoping to sell your house quickly, early preparation of the pack will increase the chance of a buyer making a pre-auction offer on your property.

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