I am in the throes of transferring my existing standard loan to a Buy to Let National Westminster Bank mortgage. The bank has said that I need a solicitor as part of the process. I got in contact with my past Summerhill conveyancing practitioner who who completed the conveyancing when I first acquired the house. The costs estimate e-mailed to me of £550 has surprised me as its a remortgage than a sale or purchase.
The charges are a bit high. If you shop around you might get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by say £125. On the other hand, assuming were content with the assistance the firm gave you maycome to regret choosing an a cheaper conveyancer. Don't forget to check the solicitor can represent National Westminster Bank. Do utilise our search tool to find a Summerhill conveyancing firm on the National Westminster Bank approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Summerhill.
Some advice if I may. My Summerhill solicitor is informing me me that he is legally obliged toapply for Summerhill conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Santanderconveyancing panel. Is my conveyancer right?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a mortgage company your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your property lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Summerhill conveyancing searches.
I just acquired a flat at auction in Summerhill. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?
Given that you are now legally bound yourself to purchase you should instruct a conveyancing solicitor soon as you will have a pending a fixed date to complete the deal. An auction property should have a corresponding auction set of papers. This should include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold premises the auction papers should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation specific to a leasehold property. You must pass this on to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Summerhill solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Summerhill postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Summerhill.
Kent Reliance have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Summerhill has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The property agent will need to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s panel). Contact Kent Reliance or the broker and finalise any relevant documentation. Kent Reliance will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to schedule a slot for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days to receive the mortgage offer. Kent Reliance will send the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Summerhill.
I was pointed in your direction by numerous estate agents in Summerhill to find a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers ahead of alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t give any referral fee for sending work to this site. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Am I best advised to appoint a Summerhill conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can execute the legal work but his firm is located 400kilometers away.
The benefit of a high street Summerhill conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and they were content that must surpass using an unknown Summerhill conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.
I have been told by many estate agents to expect six to eight weeks for Summerhill conveyancing to complete.This was 3 ago. The draft contract was only forwarded to my conveyancer last week so does the time start running now?
You should be pragmatic about timescales. Property transactions in Summerhill usually takes about two months. This time period is not because conveyancing practitioner are slow and deliberately delay matters. The amount of money involved in purchasing any property is so high, the buyer’s conveyancer needing to raise a wide range of queries, searches and other checks to protect the purchaser and their lender (if there is to be a home loan) from expensive, avoidable problems. Conveyancing in Summerhill involves seeking information from various different parties, for example other lawyer, local councils, private companies, building societies and banks. Some of these are well organised. Plenty aren't. It is worth noting that, it doesn't matter how quickly your conveyancer do their job, if the people you are buying from or are selling to aren't ready, nothing can move forward until they are.