I am only a couple days away from an exchange on a property in Downham and my mum and dad have transferred the 10% deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now informed that as the deposit has not come from me my conveyancing practitioner needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the lender he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I informed the mortgage company about my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
The solicitor is duty bound to clarify with mortgage company to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to your lender if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
The Downham conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Downham have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I needed a solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel and my preferred Downham lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
We had appointed solicitors with offices in Downham on the Santander solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental charge for the legal aspects of the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Santander?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by Santander but by your Downham solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some firms include it on their overall fee.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Downham conveyancing solicitors have been chosen. How long does it take for Santander to send the offer to the property lawyer?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Santander done the valuation? Have you informed Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
Our offer on a semi in Downham has been accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on a property, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Downham. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with TSB going?
It is normal to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Downham conveyancing search costs, etc). The first course of action is to check that your property lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. As to the next steps this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market some purchasers would apply for a home loan with TSB and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their solicitor to press on with searches.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Downham with a mortgage from Lloyds TSB Bank. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about this side-deal as it would put at risk my loan with Lloyds TSB Bank. Is this normal?.
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 opted to have a survey completed on a property in Downham in advance of appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not issue a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Downham. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I have been pointed in your direction by three or four local property agents in Downham to select a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to promote your site over and above another?
We don’t make any financial incentive for sending work in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.