My fiance and I are looking to acquire a house in Abbey Wood and are in fact using a Abbey Wood conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Britannia have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Abbey Wood solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Abbey Wood solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Do lawyers ask for money up-front for my conveyancing in Abbey Wood?
If you are buying a property in Abbey Wood your solicitor will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. If any deposit is as part of the purchase price then this should be needed shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is needed will be payable a couple of days ahead of the completion date.
Various online forums that I have come across warn that are the main cause of delay in Abbey Wood conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Abbey Wood.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Abbey Wood is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Abbey Wood are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Abbey Wood you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Abbey Wood may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Hoping to buy a property located in Abbey Wood and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Abbey Wood. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Abbey Wood area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Abbey Wood. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
Am I better off to instruct a Abbey Wood conveyancing lawyer based in the area that I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can deal with the legal formalities however his firm is located approximately 350miles drive away.
The benefit of a local Abbey Wood conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to execute paperwork, hand in your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. Having local Abbey Wood know how is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were happy that should surpass using an unfamiliar Abbey Wood conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Abbey Wood based.