Will lawyers request an advanced payment for conveyancing in St Johns?
If you are buying a property in St Johns your solicitor will ask you put them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is as part of the total price then this should be needed shortly before contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.
We previously appointed solicitors locally in St Johns on the Nationwide solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional charge for dealing with the Nationwide mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Nationwide?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer can levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Nationwide but by your St Johns conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the Nationwide panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in St Johns. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Lloyds panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I have instructed a St Johns property lawyer having made sure that they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Kent Reliance will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kent Reliance will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own St Johns surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Should our conveyancer be raising enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in St Johns.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors dealing with homes in St Johns. There are those who buy a property in St Johns, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in St Johns. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a standard question of the vendor to discover whether the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the seller, then a purchaser could commence a compensation claim as a result of such an incorrect response. The buyer’s conveyancers will also conduct an environmental search. This should higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be made.
I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in St Johns. Now, I need the documents however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St Johns of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in St Johns. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in St Johns
-
Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please supply a car parking plan.
Should I appoint a St Johns conveyancing lawyer in close proximity to the house I am buying? We have a good friend who can conduct the legal work however his firm is located approximately 350miles drive away.
The benefit of a local St Johns conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to execute paperwork, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local knowledge which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and on the whole were content that should outweigh using an unknown St Johns conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.