My wife and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a house in Witham and my parents have transferred the ten percent deposit to my solicitor. I am now advised that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to disclose this to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I advised the lender concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for this now to be an issue?
Your lawyer is duty bound to clarify with mortgage company to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only notify this to your mortgage company if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I am selling my flat in Witham. Does my conveyancing practitioner need to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently at the moment.
I understand that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I need chancel insurance when acquiring a residence in Witham? or I am told that there is an ancient law that could mean that homeowners residing in a parish church boundary will be compelled to contribute towards repairs towards the chancel within the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in Witham?
Unless a prior acquisition of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you may expect conveyancing practitioners conducting conveyancing in Witham to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Witham is the location of the property. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Witham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Witham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Witham may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I have been advised by a few property agents in Witham to select a solicitor using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to market your services ahead of a competitor’s?
We don’t offer any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission 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.
Our mortgage broker has suggested using their solicitor for the conveyancing in Witham - Surely it’s better to just use them?
This is not necessarily the case and you are free to opt for whichever property lawyer of your choosing for your Witham conveyancing. A conveyancing practitioner recommended by a 3rd party adviser may not necessarily be the right property lawyer, they may recommend their own conveyancing firm who are based remotely. In this instance you may not have contact with your lawyer and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain progress reports.