My partner and I are planning to buy a flat in Rawtenstall and are in fact using a Rawtenstall conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Rawtenstall lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 property lawyer 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Rawtenstall solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Rawtenstall with a loan from Skipton Building Society. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent told me not inform my conveyancer about the side-deal as it will adversely affect my loan with Skipton Building Society. Is this normal?.
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.
Given that I am about to part with 450k on a house in Rawtenstall I would like to have a conversation with the lawyer concerning theconveyancing prior to instructing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
This is something that we encourage - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the lawyer who will be conducting your conveyancing in Rawtenstall.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a matter reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for residential conveyancing in Rawtenstall should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.
My husband and I are novice buyers - agreed a price, but the selling agent told us that the owners will only issue a contract if we instruct the agent's preferred conveyancers as they need a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a high street conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Rawtenstall
We suspect that the seller is unaware of this request. Should the vendor require ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the sellers directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you intend to use your own,trusted Rawtenstall conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will give the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing thresholds demanded by HQ.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Rawtenstall with the aim of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rawtenstall can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ representatives. The majority of landlords or managing agents in Rawtenstall levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Rawtenstall. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved. If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Rawtenstall state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Rawtenstall home move. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Rawtenstall, conveyancing was carried out May 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Rawtenstall with a long lease are worth £175,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2083
With only 58 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £23,800 and £27,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.
My partner is buying a basement flat in Rawtenstall. He has received a fee estimate by the property lawyer connected to the estate agents and it came to £1385 . It was eight years ago I sold and purchased a house and the fee was £440. Have fees really increased to that extent?
What does the conveyancing estimate include? Is it just for the legal fees, or what you will be paying in total (for example Rawtenstall searches, land registry fees, etc)