My partner and I are looking to acquire a house in St Columb and are in fact using a St Columb conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our St Columb lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own St Columb solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in St Columb. I I would like to check whether they are accepted on the Bank of Ireland approved list of lawyers. Could you assist?
You should contact the lawyer and ask them whether they can act for the bank. Otherwise you should call Bank of Ireland who may be able to assist.
I'm buying my first flat in St Columb with a mortgage from Barclays Direct. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it may affect my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
My brother has suggested that I use his conveyancing solicitors in St Columb. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it the best way to choose a conveyancing practitioner is to seek referrals from friends or relatives who have actually used the solicitor you're considering.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in St Columb. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have recently received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is pay the maintenance contribution as usual because all rents and maintenance charges should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in St Columb, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in St Columb with an extended lease are worth £197,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2081
You have 55 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
Our estate agent has suggested using their property lawyer for my conveyancing in St Columb - Surely it’s better to just instruct them?
It is worth checking if the estate agent is recommending a conveyancer or introducing to a property lawyer. There are plenty of St Columb selling agents who recommend two or three St Columb conveyancing firms and get nothing from it.