I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in Atherton and the estate agent has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are swapping property lawyer. The reason given is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Atherton ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
I am under pressure from the seller of a property in Atherton to sign contracts within four weeks. What can I do to hasten the legal process?
Where the seller is applying a tight deadline to exchange it is advisable to make sure that your conveyancer is familiar with the area as they will have local relationships and knowledge. It is possible that they could have handled previoushomes in the same street. Therefore consider using a Atherton conveyancing lawyer. In addition, double check that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is understood that 18% of Atherton conveyancing deals are held up or jeopardised after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their mortgage lender’s list of approved solicitors. This can often result in the legal transfer of property being delayed by as much as three weeks. It is believed that this issue impacts approximately one hundred thousand home sales annually. Most Atherton conveyancing firms can not act for certain lenders so do check as early as possible.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in Atherton. Now, I need my files however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Atherton of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Atherton prior to instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to grant a mortgage on such a house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Atherton. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Atherton to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in Atherton and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Atherton. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Atherton area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Atherton. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
Am I best advised to use a Atherton conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the conveyancing but her office is a couple of hundredkilometers drive away.
The benefit of a local Atherton conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute documents, deliver your ID and pester them where appropriate. Having local Atherton know how is a benefit. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and in the main were content that should trump using an unknown Atherton conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being round the corner.