My partner and I are looking to buy a house in Bishop Auckland and have instructed a Bishop Auckland conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Bishop Auckland solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance 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 property lawyer 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bishop Auckland solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, 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 Bishop Auckland. I I would like to check whether they are on the Nottingham Building Society approved list of lawyers. Can you help?
The first thing you should do is e-mail your conveyancer and ask them if they can act for the lender. Alternatively please get in touch with Nottingham Building Society who may be able to help.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Bishop Auckland?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Bishop Auckland. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I have been pointed in your direction by numerous selling agents in Bishop Auckland to get a quote from a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers rather than another?
We don’t make any commission for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
My husband and I are first time buyers - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent informed us that the owners will only proceed if we instruct their preferred lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Bishop Auckland
We suspect that the seller is not behind this demand. If they require ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Bypass the agents and go straight to the sellers and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to appoint your preferred Bishop Auckland conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthe ones that will provide the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing thresholds set by head office.
Two months into purchasing a house in Bishop Auckland. Conveyancing solicitor has told us the property is "Leasehold". Will this likely make a difference on the marketability of the property?
Bishop Auckland conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The main factor here is the unexpired lease term and the ground rent. If there are hundred of years years remaining with a nominal rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it shouldn't impact the value too much.
On the flip side, if it's, say, 50 years it is bound to have a significant effect on the saleability, and most likely wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be set out in the lease provided to your solicitor.