As I am unsure how the conveyancing bit works what is the most important piece of guidance you can impart regarding purchase conveyancing in Chipping Barnet?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Chipping Barnet and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for friction between you and other parties involved in the legal transfer of property. For example, the vendor, estate agent and even potentially your lender. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Chipping Barnet is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the process whose role it is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.
We are witnessing a definite increase in the "blame" culture- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer ahead of all other players in the home moving process.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Yorkshire BS. Chipping Barnet conveyancing practitioners are selected. How long does it take for Yorkshire BS to forward the offer to the conveyancer?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Yorkshire BS conducted the valuation? Have you informed Yorkshire BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
My wife and I are in the process of viewing apartments in Chipping Barnet and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a mortgage with Santander.
You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Santander, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Santander conveyancing panel.
Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Chipping Barnet solicitor - who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Chipping Barnet surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
My relative advised me that where I am buying in Chipping Barnet I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Chipping Barnet conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Chipping Barnet around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Chipping Barnet Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Chipping Barnet Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Chipping Barnet.
I used Wolstenholmes several years ago for my conveyancing in Chipping Barnet. Now, I need my files but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Chipping Barnet of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I was pointed in your direction by three or four local property agents in Chipping Barnet to choose a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to offer your services over another?
We refuse to offer any referral fee for sending work to this site. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Should I instruct a Chipping Barnet conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can perform the conveyancing but her office is 200miles away.
The primary upside of using a high street Chipping Barnet conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to sign documents, deliver your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust instructed your friend and in the main were impressed that must trump using an unfamiliar Chipping Barnet conveyancing solicitor just because they are based in the area.