I am buying a property mortgage free in St Mary Cray. I have resided for the last twelve years in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a home loan, then almost all of the St Mary Cray conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your conveyancer will try and sway you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but he is duty bound to do this. Do take into account; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it may be of importance to your future purchaser what the searches disclose. On occasion premises with no practical issues can still show up adverse search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in St Mary Cray will provide you some constructive guidance concerning this.
We see that you have a search directory listing solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our conveyancing in St Mary Cray?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in St Mary Cray.
I have a decision in principle. The lender mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel solicitor as I would prefer to appoint a high street conveyancing solicitor in St Mary Cray?
Do check but the the likelihood is that appoint one of their panel solicitors if you accept the "fee-free" deal. Speak to the mortgage company and ask if they offer you a monetary alternative. In the past a few lenders offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case that money can go towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor near St Mary Cray.
This question may be naive but I am new to the process as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in St Mary Cray. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in St Mary Cray?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be able to pick up the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs early afternoon.
is it true that all St Mary Cray solicitors on the Barclays conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Barclays approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be overseen by the CLC.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a St Mary Cray property lawyer on the Santander panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Will our conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in St Mary Cray.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors conducting conveyancing in St Mary Cray. Some people will purchase a house in St Mary Cray, 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, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that may be initiated by the buyer or by their lawyers which will give them a better understanding of the risks in St Mary Cray. The standard information sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard question of the owner to find out whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a legal claim for losses as a result of such an incorrect answer. A purchaser’s lawyers may also commission an enviro report. This will higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations should be made.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in St Mary Cray I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St Mary Cray in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.