My partner and I are looking to buy a home in Beaworthy and are in fact using a Beaworthy conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Beaworthy conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 Beaworthy solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
The sellers of the home we are purchasing are using a conveyancing firm in Beaworthy who has recommended a preliminary contract with a down payment two thousand pounds. Are such agreements sensible?
There are a couple of main drawbacks with entering into any lock out agreement (also known as an exclusivity agreement) is that it can distract from making progress with the conveyancing transaction itself, so in the absence of it needing minimal or no negotiation then it could transpire to be a cause of frustration and delay. It is not promoted by Beaworthy conveyancing lawyers for this reason. A supplemental issue is the extent of the remedies available - a jilted purchaser should not expect to win an injunction to prohibit the owner selling to a third party, so the only remedy available under the contract will be the recovery of wasted costs and, in restricted situations, the extra payment of penalties.
We note that you have a post code search directory listing firms on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Beaworthy?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Beaworthy.
I purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Beaworthy. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking Accord Mortgages Ltd to clarify?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Beaworthy and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I'm buying my first flat in Beaworthy benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my solicitor about the extras as it may adversely affect my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
My partner has recommend that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Beaworthy. Should I choose my own solicitor?
There are no two ways about it the ideal way to choose a conveyancing practitioner is to have referrals from friends or relatives who have actually used the solicitor that you are contemplating using.