Is the fact that my conveyancer in Seaham is not listed on my lender's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the quality of the firm’s work?
It would be unwise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should simply call the Seaham conveyancing practice and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.
Should lawyers ask for an advanced payment when it comes to conveyancing in Seaham?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Seaham your lawyer will ask you put them with monies 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 purchase price then this should be required immediately before contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
My wife and I are purchasing a property in Seaham. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? On completion day we have to send funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I am the single recipient of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Seaham. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in August. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in August. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this provision principally exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
I currently have a mortgage with Barclays for my property in Seaham. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Barclays?
You must advise Barclays prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Barclays’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Barclays directly. You need not do this via a Barclays conveyancing panel lawyer.
My colleague suggested that if I am buying in Seaham I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Seaham conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Seaham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Seaham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Seaham.
I moved into my flat on 9 October and my personal details is not yet registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Seaham advises it would be registered in less than a month. Are properties in Seaham uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Seaham registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can vary subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry communicate with any other parties. At present roughly three quarters of submission are fully addressed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to longer delays. Historically registration is effected after the new owner has moved in to the property therefore registration formalities is not typically top priority yet where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Seaham is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Seaham are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Seaham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Seaham 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 premises.