I am five weeks into the sale of my home in East Harling and the estate agent has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in East Harling ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
The housing market in East Harling is heating up. What can I do to expedite matters?
Where the seller is applying time constraints to sign contracts it is highly recommended that your solicitor is familiar with the location as they will make use of local relationships and knowledge. It is even conceivable that they may have transacted previousproperties in the same street. You would be best advised to use a East Harling conveyancing solicitor. Second, double check that the lawyer is on the member panel. It is claimed that just under twenty per cent of East Harling conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after finding out that a buyer’s conveyancer was not on their banks member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the buying process being held up by as much as three weeks. It is understood that this issue affects in the region of 100,000 home moves annually. Most East Harling conveyancing practices can not represent certain mortgage companies so do check at the outset.
Are the East Harling conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Santander conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Santander?
East Harling conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Santander directly.
Have just purchased a repossessed house at auction in East Harling. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?
Given that you are now legally bound yourself to purchase you now have to retain a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of priority as you will have a tight a drop dead date to complete the property. An auction property will ordinarily have a bespoke legal pack. This should include most,if not all of the documents that your conveyancer will need. If you have purchased leasehold property the auction pack may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You should pass this on to the conveyancer working for you at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the date specified in the contract.
We previously instructed conveyancers based in East Harling on the Aldermore solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional sum for handling the Aldermore mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Aldermore?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your property lawyer may charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Aldermore but by your East Harling conveyancing practitioner. Some firms on the Aldermore panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
Can I be sure that the East Harling conveyancing solicitor on the Coventry BS panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in East Harling getting recommendations is a good start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always suggest that you speak with the lawyer conducting your transaction.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in East Harling?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in East Harling. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in East Harling I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in East Harling in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a mortgage that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.