My fiance and I are hoping to buy a property in Carterton and are in fact using a Carterton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. HSBC Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Carterton conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 Accreditation 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Carterton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My wife and I are approaching an exchange on a property in Carterton and my parents have sent the exchange deposit to my conveyancer. I am now told that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to make a notification to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I informed the lender regarding my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for this now to hold matters up?
Your lawyer is legally required to clarify with lender to make sure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only reveal this to your mortgage company if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
We see that you have a post code search directory listing firms on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our conveyancing in Carterton?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Carterton.
How does conveyancing in Carterton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Carterton approach us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because house builders in Carterton tend to acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Carterton or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Carterton ahead of appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor advised that some lenders tend not give a mortgage on this type of home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Carterton. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I have been pointed in your direction by two or three local selling agents in Carterton to find a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to market your lawyers ahead of another?
We don’t make any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.