We have very brash vendors who has suggested a preliminary agreement with a non-refundable deposit of 5k. Are such contracts appropriate for Erith conveyancing transactions?
Exclusivity contracts are agreements between a property seller and purchaser granting the buyer exclusive rights to purchase the property for a set period of time. Essentially, a lock out is a document stating that you should receive a contract at a later time being the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be used for buyer protection though in many situations, the seller may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are numerous positives and negatives to having them but you should to check with your solicitor but beware that it may end up costing you extra in conveyancing charges. In light of this these contracts are avoided in relation to conveyancing in Erith.
Why do I have to pay up front for conveyancing in Erith?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Erith your solicitor will ask you put them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is needed to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is payable against the purchase price then this will be required immediately ahead of contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer a few days ahead of the completion date.
My Conveyancer in Erith is not on the The Royal Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel. Can I still retain my prefered solicitor even though they are not on the The Royal Bank of Scotland panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Erith solicitors but The Royal Bank of Scotland will need to retain a conveyancer on their panel. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing fees and cause frustration.
- Find an alternative practitioner to to deal with the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the The Royal Bank of Scotland panel
Are all Erith Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing list of approved practices?
Some major lenders now utilise the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.
I have paid off my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Erith conveyancing practitioner on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham 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 Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, 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 Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Erith. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Not long after, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Santander 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 Santander 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.
I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Erith in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not issue a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Erith. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Erith especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Erith.
Some months ago I was advised by my mortgage company that their panel solicitors work on no move no charge basis for conveyancing in Erith. I had a purchase fall through and now the lawyers have requested search fees! They are stating that the fees are independent!
Erith conveyancing search charges are separate expenses not legal fees as these are payable to a third party.