My wife and I are hoping to purchase a property in Prescot and are in fact using a Prescot conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays Direct have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Prescot solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Prescot solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am purchasing a new build house in Prescot with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the side-deal as it could adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Prescot is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Prescot are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Prescot you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Prescot may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for residential conveyancing in Prescot. I have chance upon a web site which seems to have the ideal offering If there is a chance to get all the legals completed via web that would be ideal. Should I be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Prescot. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently received a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you discharge the service charge as usual as all ground rent and service invoices should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Prescot, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Prescot with an extended lease are worth £202,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2083
You have 57 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
For various reasons I am unfit to attend my Prescot conveyancing solicitors office to execute documents for conveyancing in Prescot – is this a problem?
No. Prescot conveyancing lawyers can handle conveyancing transactions for clients nationwide. You are unlikely to be required to attend a Prescot conveyancers office. They can deal with everything via phone, post and email - whatever works for you.