I went with a local solicitor for my conveyancing in County Durham today. Going through the Ts and Cs I seewe are responsible for fees even if our purchase aborts. Should I ditch them and appoint an on-line lawyer promoting no move no charge conveyancing in County Durham?
Generally there is a concession along the lines that if "No Sale No Fee" is available then the fee levels will tend to be be uplifted to offset those conveyances that do not proceed. You should be mindful that such promotions tend not to cover disbursements e.g. County Durham conveyancing search fees.
We previously appointed conveyancers located in County Durham on the Aldermore solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional fee for dealing with the Aldermore mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Aldermore?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Aldermore but by your County Durham lawyer. Some firms on the Aldermore panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Lloyds. I assume I don't need a County Durham property lawyer on the Lloyds panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Lloyds mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Lloyds mortgage from the register. Lloyds, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Lloyds has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Lloyds has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The mortgage over my property is with Coventry BS for my property in County Durham. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Coventry BS?
You must advise Coventry BS prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Coventry BS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Coventry BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Coventry BS conveyancing panel solicitor.
I have recentlybeen informed that Wolstenholmes have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in County Durham for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 18 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest way to check if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of County Durham conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in County Durham differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in County Durham approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is built. This is because builders in County Durham usually purchase 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 County Durham or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in County Durham before appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some banks tend refuse to issue a loan on such a house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in County Durham. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in County Durham especially if they are familiar with such properties in County Durham.
Is it best to appoint a County Durham conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the legal formalities however her office is 400kilometers away.
The benefit of a local County Durham conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have used your friend and they were content that should surpass using an unknown County Durham conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being County Durham based.