When does exchange of contracts happen for sale conveyancing in Northfleet and do I need to be at the solicitors branch?
Where you are local to our conveyancing solicitors in Northfleet you are welcome to attend to sign contracts. However, the law practices we recommend supply countrywide coverage for conveyancing and give just as diligent and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The executing of the property agreement is not when everything is set in stone. Signing on the dotted line simply enables the solicitor to exchange contracts when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Northfleet)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
I have been advised by my conveyancer that defective lease insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Northfleet?
The appropriate level of defective lease indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Yorkshire Building Society and Skipton Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
Having read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Northfleet solicitor - who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Nationwide will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nationwide 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Northfleet surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Our sealed bid on a semi in Northfleet has been accepted, but there is a chain. The sellers have put an offer on on an apartment, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Northfleet. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with TSB?
It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Northfleet conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your solicitor is on the TSB approved list. Concerning the next stages this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a rising market some home buyers will apply for the mortgage with TSB and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with the conveyancing in Northfleet.
My colleague suggested that if I am buying in Northfleet I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Northfleet conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Northfleet around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Northfleet.
I am buying my first flat in Northfleet benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not disclose to my lawyer about this extras as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I was advised by a number of property agents in Northfleet to choose a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to market your lawyers over and above another?
We don’t give any referral fee for sending work to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
My wife and I accepted an offer on a Northfleet flat left to us seven years ago in 2012. I have over 12 years conveyancing know-how and, now retired, wish to do my own legal work. The purchaser's lawyer has informed me that their bank will not allow us to do our own conveyancing insisting the funds to be released via a solicitor's bank account.
Mortgage requirements to conveyancers from all CML members state that If the vendor is not legally represented the borrower's lawyers should check whether the bank needs to be told so that a decision can be made if they are prepared to proceed.