My husband and I are planning to acquire a home in Melbourne and are in fact using a Melbourne conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Melbourne conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Melbourne solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I require conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (6 years old) in Melbourne. Almost all the appartments have already been occupied. Is it strictly necessary to order conveyancing searches as part of conveyancing in Melbourne?
If you are purchasing a property with the assistance of a mortgage, your lender will insist on some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Melbourne conveyancing searches are optional. Your solicitor, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have the searches done, but he or she is duty bound in this regard. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you demand that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to swap to another solicitor for your conveyancing in Melbourne.
I am considering applying for a Coventry BS mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Melbourne with 65 per cent LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Coventry BS ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel, but Coventry BS would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.
My father has suggested that I use his conveyancing solicitors in Melbourne. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it the ideal way to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to seek referrals from friends or family who have actually previously instructed the solicitor you're are thinking of instructing.
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Melbourne. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Melbourne ?
Most houses in Melbourne are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Melbourne in which case you should be shopping around for a Melbourne conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.
Melbourne Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing
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It would be wise to discover as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they will either make living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day issues such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Ask other people whether they are happy with their management. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending the funds. Make sure you discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance it is very common in Melbourne leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Melbourne. If you love the apartmentin Melbourne however your cat is not allowed to live with you then you have a very hard decision. Where a Melbourne lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Melbournelease extensions you will need to own the premises for 24 months in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension.
I have read on various online forums that when selecting a conveyancing solicitors they must be approved by your bank. This is my first home move but I have an AIP from HSBC and I already have a high street conveyancing solicitor in Melbourne lined up. Does Virgin Money need an approved lawyer to be instructed? Does a directory of approved conveyancers even exist for my conveyancing in Melbourne?
You need to use a solicitor that is on the Virgin Money panel. The simplest thing to do is call your chosen Melbourne conveyancing lawyer and ask if they are on the Virgin Money panel. If they are not approved you have a couple of alternatives open to you here:
- Carry on with your preferred Melbourne property lawyer but Virgin Money will undoubtedly instruct a lawyer from their approved panel. This will result in additional fees together with probable frustration.
- Choose a new lawyer to act in the purchase, not forgetting to check that they are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.
- Convince your lawyer to pull out all the stops to join the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.