Is the fact that my conveyancer in Honiton is not on my mortgage company's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the quality of her work?
That is most likely a wrong assumption to make. There are plenty of plausible explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should contact the Honiton conveyancing practice and enquire why they are no longer on the approved list for your lender.
At what point will exchange of contracts occur in domestic conveyancing in Honiton and do I need to be at the conveyancers office?
Where you are round the corner to our conveyancing solicitors in Honiton you are welcome to attend to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we recommend supply countrywide coverage for conveyancing and give just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The executing of the property agreement is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the conveyancer to officially exchange when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Honiton)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
We are selling our flat in Honiton. Does my property lawyer need to be required to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the HSBC conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Honiton I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Honiton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, but the property agent advised that the seller will only proceed if we use their preferred lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Honiton
It is improbable the sellers are driving this. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the vendors direct and explain that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to use your own,trusted Honiton conveyancing firm - not the ones that will give their estate agent a commission or achieve conveyancing thresholds set by head office.
I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Honiton. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all rents and service invoices will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Honiton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing
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How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Best to be warned whether changing the roof or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future to be shared by the tenants and will materially impact the level of the service fees or require a one off payment.