My wife and I are planning to purchase a 2 bedroom apartment in Willen with a mortgage. We have a Willen solicitor, but the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or keep our Willen conveyancer and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Willen conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
At what point will exchange of contracts happen for residential conveyancing in Willen and am I required to be at the conveyancers branch?
Where you are round the corner to our conveyancing solicitors in Willen you are welcome to come in to sign documents. That being said, the lender approved solicitors we recommend offer a national conveyancing service and give as equally diligent and professional a job for you when dealing with you electronically. The executing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. Signing on the dotted line is just a prerequisite for the firm to address the formalities at the appropriate time, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Willen)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house are lost. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Willen 5 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?
You no longer need to have the physical deeds to prove you are the registered proprietor of land or property, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Willen I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Willen in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
Am I best advised to use a Willen conveyancing solicitor based in the area that I am buying? I have an old university friend who can handle the legal formalities however his firm is located 200miles away.
The primary upside of using a local Willen conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and the majority were happy that must outweigh using an unknown Willen conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being round the corner.
What tools are available to search for a Willen conveyancing solicitor on the lender conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20miles to attend the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel tool on this page. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Willen and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Willen. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.