The owners have rather pushy sellers who has insisted on a preliminary contract with a payment 10k. Are such agreements sensible?
Lock out contracts are contracts binding a property vendor and prospective acquirer giving the buyer a ‘clear field’ to purchase the property within a prescribed time frame. Essentially, an exclusivity agreement is a contract specifying that you will have a contract at a later time which is the contract for the actual sale. It is generally utilised for buyer confidence though in some cases, the seller may enjoy an upside from such agreements as well. There are many pros and cons to using an agreement but you need to check with your conveyancer but beware that it may result in costing you extra in conveyancing charges. For these reasons these contracts are rare when it comes to conveyancing in Somerset.
As I am unsure how the conveyancing bit works what is the most important piece of guidance you can give me about purchase conveyancing in Somerset?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Somerset or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the legal transfer of property. For example, the vendor, selling agent and on occasion the lender. Selecting a solicitor for your conveyancing in Somerset should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the legal process whose interest is to act in your best interests and to protect you.
Sometimes a potential adversary will attempt to sway you that you should follow their advice. For example, the property agent may claim to be assisting by suggesting your lawyer is slow. Or your financial adviser may try to convince you to do take action that is contrary to your solicitors advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
A relative advised me that in buying a property in Somerset there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Somerset which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Somerset should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
My wife and I are in the throws of viewing flats in Somerset and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with Lloyds.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Nottingham are being pedantic. The Somerset solicitor who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Nottingham are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Nottingham have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nottingham have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nottingham may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Somerset 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?
You no longer need to hold title original deeds to establish that you own the land or premises, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Somerset benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my lawyer about the deal as it would jeopardize my mortgage with Britannia. Is this normal?.
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.
Am in the process of purchasing my 1st property in Somerset. Conveyancing solicitor has been selected. The financial consultant advised that a survey is not needed as the house was only constructed in 1997.
You would be best advised to have a Home Buyer's Report. As the residence was constructed over a decade ago the property will not come with a warranty, so you would be well advised not to take a risk. Where a property of this age shows no signs of problems a Home Buyer's report may suffice. They will highlight any obvious issues and suggest additional investigation if appropriate. If there are any signs of material issues obtain a full structural survey.