My partner and I are refinancing our apartment in Thurston with Virgin Money. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Virgin Money had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Should conveyancers request an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Thurston?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Thurston your lawyer will request that 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 deposit is payable against the sale price then this will be needed immediately prior to exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is due will be payable a few days prior to the day of completion.
How does conveyancing in Thurston differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Thurston come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Thurston tend to acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Thurston or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Thurston is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Thurston are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Thurston you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Thurston may decide 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 residence.
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Thurston. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Thurston - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Thurston - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying
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This information is important as a) areas could result in problems for the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to have all the details Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? Most Thurston leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building levied by the freeholder. Should you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically throughout the year. This may differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.
The mortgage broker has recommended their solicitor for our conveyancing in Thurston - won’t it be better to just use them?
You need to establish if the estate agent is recommending a conveyancer or introducing to a property lawyer. There are plenty of Thurston selling agents who recommend two or three Thurston conveyancing firms purely based on those lawyers offering a great service.