My partner and I are planning to purchase a flat in Sandwich and are in fact using a Sandwich conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Sandwich lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Sandwich solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am purchasing a house for cash in Sandwich. I have lived for the last 15 years in Sandwich. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. As I have knowledge of the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a home loan, then almost all of the Sandwich conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he is duty bound to do this. Do bear in mind; if you are intend to dispose of the house one day, it will be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. On occasion houses with functional issues can still show up unexpected search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Sandwich will provide you some constructive advice here.
Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Sandwich?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Sandwich your solicitor will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the down payment is payable against the sale price then this will be needed shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days ahead of the completion date.
I'm buying my first flat in Sandwich with a mortgage from Barclays . The sellers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my conveyancer about the deal as it will affect my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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 need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Sandwich. I happened to discover a site which seems to have the perfect solution If it is possible to get all the legals completed via email that would be ideal. Do I need to be wary? 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 have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in Sandwich. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Sandwich.
I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Sandwich, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Sandwich with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2091
With just 65 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.