Me and my wife are purchasing residence in Harwich. My Conveyancer is not on the mortgage company solicitor panel. Is it possible for me to use my Harwich conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank list of approved lawyers?
You have a couple of choices available to you here
- Proceed with your preferred Harwich conveyancer but your lender will need to appoint a property lawyer on their approved panel. The net result is additional charges together with potential frustration.
- Get a fresh property lawyer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your property lawyer to do everything possible to get listed on the bank’s conveyancing panel
We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Yorkshire BS as we intend to carry out improvements to our house in Harwich. Are we obliged to appoint a nearby Harwich solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Yorkshire BS do not ordinarily appoint firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS panel.
About to purchase house in Harwich. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Harwich lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.
Our sealed bid on a house in Harwich has been agreed to, the sellers do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The vendors have offered on somewhere, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have selected a high street conveyancing solicitor in Harwich. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with RBS?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses prematurely (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Harwich conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your lawyer is on the RBS approved list. Regarding the next phase this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market the majority of purchasers would apply for a home loan with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with the conveyancing in Harwich.
I have been told that property searches are the primary reason for hinderance in Harwich conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Harwich.
I have justfound out that Action Conveyancing have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Harwich for a purchase of a leasehold flat 12 months ago. How can I check that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can make 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 Harwich conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Harwich differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Harwich come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is completed. This is because house builders in Harwich 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 property lawyers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Harwich or who has acted in the same development.
Should I be suspicious that estate agents that I am dealing with are suggesting a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Harwich conveyancing company?
As is the case with lots of professional services, often suggestions from connections can be most helpful. Yet there are many people with a keen interest in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all recommend solicitors to choose. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but sometimes there might be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to select your own lawyer. You need to be aware that many banks operate an approved list of solicitors you must use for the mortgage related work in your conveyancing.