All was ready to move into my new home in Romney next Friday. I have now been asked to send a copy of my building insurance schedule by my solicitor as he says that he has to check this in his capacity as lawyer for the bank. What does the insurance need to cover?
All property lawyers on acting for mortgage companies would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s Part 2 instructions. These requirements are not limited to conveyancing in Romney.
As someone not used to the Romney conveyancing process what’s your top tip you can give me concerning the home moving process in Romney
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Romney or throughout Kent is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of room for confrontation between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For instance, the vendor, property agent and on occasion your bank. Selecting a lawyer for your conveyancing in Romney is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose role it is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.
On occasion a potential adversary will try and sway you that you should follow their advice. As an example, the estate agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your solicitor is dragging his heels. Or your financial adviser may advise you to do something that is against your solicitors guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the conveyancing process.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Clydesdale Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Romney?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
What does a local search reveal concerning the house we're purchasing in Romney?
Romney conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for example Searchflow The local search plays an important role in many a Romney conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject headings.
I am buying a new build house in Romney benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about this extras as it may impact my mortgage with Godiva Mortgages Ltd. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
Do I need to be suspicious by 3rd parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Romney conveyancing practice?
As with lots of service providers, often referrals from connections can be most helpful. Yet there are many players in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, mortgage brokers and banks may put forward conveyancers to retain. On occasion the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there may be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You have the discretion to choose your preferred lawyer. You need to be aware that some mortgage providers specify a panel list of law firms you must use for the mortgage related work in your house move.