I am in a contract race with another prospective purchaser for a property in Creekmouth. What can I do to accelerate the legal process?
In the event that you are under a tight deadline for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your conveyancer is familiar with the area as they will have local contacts and know-how. It is possible that they would have transacted previoushouses in the same street. You would be best advised to use a Creekmouth conveyancing firm. Second, double check that the conveyancing firm is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is understood that 18% of Creekmouth conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after finding out that a buyer’s lawyer was not on their banks member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal transfer of property being held up by as much as 21 days. It is said that this issue affects in the region of one hundred thousand home moves annually. Most Creekmouth conveyancing practices can not act for certain banks so do check as early as possible.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Creekmouth. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Coventry BS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Coventry BS your lawyer must comply with the conveyancing instructions contained in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Coventry BS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Coventry BS where a lease fails to comply with these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Creekmouth.
Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Creekmouth solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Creekmouth surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
HSBC have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Creekmouth has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
Your property agent will need to be advised as to your lawyer's details (ensure that the property lawyers are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone HSBC or your broker and finalise any relevant paperwork. HSBC will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to schedule a time for the valuation to occur. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. HSBC will issue the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Creekmouth.
My friend suggested that where I am purchasing in Creekmouth I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Creekmouth conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Creekmouth around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Creekmouth.
How does conveyancing in Creekmouth differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Creekmouth contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is constructed. This is because house builders in Creekmouth typically acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Creekmouth or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Creekmouth before appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Creekmouth. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Creekmouth especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Creekmouth.
As co-executor for the will of my grandmother I am disposing of a property in Swansea but reside in Creekmouth. My solicitor (based 300 miles from meneeds me to sign a stat dec ahead of the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Creekmouth to attest this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are based in Creekmouth
