The owners have rather pushy vendors who has suggested a exclusivity agreement with a non-refundable deposit 10k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
This kind of arrangement is unusual in East Dulwich, conveyancers are often found to direct clients away from them as they detract from the primary focus, namely conveyancing and if you end up losing your deposit then the solicitor is left exposed. Furthermore, there is no certainty that just because the proprietor has signed a lock out agreement they will sell to you. They may be in contravention of the contract if they are offered sufficient offer to do so because an aggrieved party with the benefit of a lockoutcontract will still be duty bound to establish consequential losses from the breach and these may not equalise the financial upside that your vendor may obtain by breaking the agreement, no matter how morally unworthy that may be.
What is the first thing I need to know concerning purchase conveyancing in East Dulwich?
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in East Dulwich or throughout South East London is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. For example, the vendor, estate agent and on occasion your bank. Choosing a lawyer for your conveyancing in East Dulwich should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the legal process whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.
There is a worrying creep of a "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above the other players when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
Should our lawyer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in East Dulwich.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in East Dulwich. Some people will purchase a property in East Dulwich, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that may be initiated by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in East Dulwich. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a buyer’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a standard inquiry of the seller to discover whether the premises has ever been flooded. In the event that the premises has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the vendor, then a purchaser could issue a legal claim for losses resulting from an incorrect reply. The purchaser’s solicitors should also carry out an enviro search. This should indicate whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be conducted.
I purchased a renovated Victorian house in East Dulwich. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Virgin Money to clarify?
You should read 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in East Dulwich and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I opted to have a survey completed on a property in East Dulwich before instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to give a mortgage on this type of house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Halifax. If you contact us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in East Dulwich. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in East Dulwich to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Is it best to instruct a East Dulwich conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can conduct the legal work but her office is approximately 350kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a local East Dulwich conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, present your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were impressed that must outweigh using an unknown East Dulwich conveyancing lawyer just because they are based in the area.