Do conveyancers request money up-front for conveyancing in Lancaster?
If you are buying a property in Lancaster your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is as part of the sale price then this will be required shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed will be payable a few days ahead of the day of completion.
I require quick conveyancing in Lancaster as I have pressure to complete inside 2 weeks. A mortgage is not required. Can I decline from having conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are are a mortgage free buyer you are at liberty not to do searches although no solicitor would suggest that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Lancaster the following are instances of what can arise and therefore affect future mortgageability: Enforcement Notices, Outstanding Charges, Outstanding Grants, Railway Schemes,...
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Lancaster I like with a park and station nearby, however it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Lancaster suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
How easy is it to swap firm as I need to select a firm on the TSB conveyancing list. I had appointed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Lancaster five minutes from me but he is not accepted by TSB
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Lancaster on the TSB panel. Please note that the law firms that we list do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are regulated by the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Lancaster. In making use of search facility on this site, you can contrast charges for conveyancing solicitors in Lancaster and beyond.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Lancaster. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have recently had a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?
It best that you clear the maintenance contribution as you normally would given that all ground rent and maintenance charges should be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer 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.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Lancaster - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
-
It is important to be aware if changing the roof or some other significant cost is due in the near future that will be shared between the leaseholders and could well materially increase the the maintenance charges or result in a specific payment. Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Lancaster. If you like the propertyin Lancaster however your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult choice. Does the lease have onerous restrictions?
We own a leasehold flat in Lancaster. Conveyancing was finished in last year. I have been told that I mustn’t let the the remaining lease term to get too short. What is the reasoning?
Lancaster leasehold properties are for a prescribed period - normally 99 years when they commenced. However many flats in Lancaster were built or converted 35 or more years ago and so these leases now have under 80 years remaining. This may sound like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole require leases to have at least seventy five years unexpired to be mortgageable. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to 75 years. To increase your property value you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Please note that there are strong financial reasons to doing so before the lease hits 80 years as when the lease is less than 80 years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to increase.