I am buying a brand new apartment in Castleton and my lawyer is advising me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to sign contracts and I have no desire to delay deal. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
At what point will exchange of contracts take place for purchase conveyancing in Castleton and do I need to be at the conveyancers branch?
If you are in close proximity to our conveyancing solicitors in Castleton you are invited in to sign documents. However, the law practices we work with provide a countrywide conveyancing service and give as equally detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. A signed contract is necessary for the conveyancer to exchange contracts at the suitable time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Castleton)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
I am helping my mother sell her flat in Castleton. Does the conveyancer arrange an energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to see to?
After the abolition of Home Information Packs, EPC’s remained a compulsory part of moving property. An energy performance certificate must be to hand prior to the property being placed on the market. It is not as aspect of the sale process that conveyancers ordinarily arrange. If you are using a Castleton conveyancing lawyer they may be willing to arrange energy performance certificates due to their contacts with reputable Castleton accredited person
I just bought a house at auction in Castleton. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?
Having exchanged you now have to retain a conveyancing solicitor quickly as you now have a pending a drop dead date to complete the deal. All auction property should have a bespoke legal set of papers. This should include evidence of title and search results. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the auction papers may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You should hand this to the conveyancer working for you as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that your finances are in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Castleton. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £225. A couple of days later, the solicitor called me to say that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
How does conveyancing in Castleton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Castleton approach us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is finished. This is because new home sellers in Castleton usually 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 conveyancers 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 used to new build conveyancing in Castleton or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Castleton is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Castleton are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Castleton 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 Castleton 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.
My son is just in the process of moving house, he had his mortgage in principle. When the offer was accepted on house we telephoned the bank to go forward with his. I was shocked to learn that banks do not accept all conveyancer, they have to be on a list, is this right?
Lenders ordinarily imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Castleton solicitor on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.