Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor in Corston is not identified on my mortgage company's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of his work?
It would be unwise to jump to that conclusion. There are all sorts of perfectly plausible explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator revealed 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should simply call the Corston conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your lender.
We have rather brash sellers who has insisted on a exclusivity contract with a payment 10k. Are such agreements sensible?
There are a couple of primary concerns with entering into any lock out agreement (also known as a no-shop agreement) is that it takes away the focus from making progress with the conveyancing transaction itself, so unless it requires little or no negotiation then it may turn out to be unhelpful. It is not particularly popular amongst Corston conveyancing practitioners for this reason. A further negative is the extent of the remedies available - a jilted purchaser is very unlikely to obtain an injunction to bar the seller selling to a third party, so the only remedy open via the contract will be the recovery of wasted costs and, in rare scenarios, the additional payment of penalties.
My aunt passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Corston. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to RBS, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you intend to refinance then RBS will require that you use a conveyancer on the RBS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your RBS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the RBS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I can see plenty of information on this site about conveyancing in Corston but what is your top tip for choosing the right conveyancer in Corston
We would encourage you not to go for the cheapest Corston conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
Can you point me to a directory of Aldermore panel solicitors in Corston on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association sites. Very few banks make their panel listings viewable over the internet. If you are seeking to appoint a Corston conveyancer on the Aldermore please make the most of our facility.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Corston. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nationwide panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I'm buying a new build house in Corston benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my solicitor about this extras as it will jeopardize 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.
I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased mother’s Will, with a bungalow in Corston which will be sold. The property is unregistered at the Land Registry and I'm told that many estate agents will insist that it is completed before they'll proceed. What's the mechanism for this?
In the circumstances that you have set out it seems prudent to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.