We have very pushy sellers who has recommended a lock out agreement with a non-refundable deposit of 5k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
Lock out contracts are agreements between a property owner and purchaser granting the buyer the sole right to purchase the property within an agreed time frame. Essentially, an exclusivity agreement is a contract specifying that you should be issued with a contract at a later date being the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be used for buyer confidence though in many situations, the seller may enjoy an upside from such agreements as well. There are various positives and negatives to using an agreement but you should to check with your lawyer but beware that it may result in incurring extra in conveyancing fees. For this these contracts are rare in relation to conveyancing in Cambridge.
Do lenders provide you with an approved list of Cambridge conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the UBS conveyancing panel?
Cambridge conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the UBS conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from UBS directly.
This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a first time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Cambridge. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Cambridge?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Cambridge. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you should be able to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I'm the only recipient of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Cambridge. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in May. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in May. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be impacted by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this clause primarily exists to pick up on subsales or the flipping of property.
Is it the case that all Cambridge solicitors on the Aldermore conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Aldermore approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Many lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
The deeds to my home can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Cambridge 4 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
As long as you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be held by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, identify your property and order current copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for twenty pounds.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Cambridge I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Cambridge for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be an issue. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Do online conveyancing companies cover everything a high street Cambridge solicitor does or must I use a solicitor for the final stages for my conveyancing in Cambridge?
Where you choose an online conveyancer they will undertake all the work your Cambridge conveyancer would cover.