It is is a decade since I acquired my house in Great Harwood. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to locate my title documents. Will this cause complications?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be with the lender or they could be in the possession of the lawyers who acted in the purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Great Harwood relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Clydesdale. Great Harwood conveyancing practitioners are selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Clydesdale?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Clydesdale done the survey? Have you informed Clydesdale as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Great Harwood. My financial adviser suggested a lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Not long after, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Great Harwood solicitor having checked that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland 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. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Great Harwood postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Great Harwood.
Various web forums that I have visited warn that are the number one reason for obstruction in Great Harwood conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Great Harwood.
We are 17 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the estate agent to do our conveyancing in Great Harwood. I am not happy. Could you help me find new conveyancers?
A conveyancer would have to be really bad to suggest replacing them. Has the loan offer been issued? In the event that it has you need to inform them of the new contact details and have the loan are issued to the new lawyers. The solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company panel to avoid added charges and complications. So that should be your starting point. Our search tool will help you find a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Great Harwood
I am looking at a couple of flats in Great Harwood both have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Great Harwood is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Great Harwood conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Great Harwood - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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It is important to be aware whether redecorating or some other major work is due in the near future to be shared between the tenants and will materially increase the the maintenance charges or require a specific payment. Who manages the building?
I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Great Harwood.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated however I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you clear the invoice as you normally would given that all ground rent and service payments will be apportionedon completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially