My wife and I are looking to purchase a home in Birchgrove and are in fact using a Birchgrove conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Halifax have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Birchgrove lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Birchgrove solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I have been referred to a conveyancing solicitor in Birchgrove. I I would like to check if they are accepted on the The Mortgage Works approved list of lawyers. Could you assist?
You should e-mail your lawyer and ask them if they can act for the bank. Otherwise please get in touch with The Mortgage Works who may be able to help.
How does conveyancing in Birchgrove differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Birchgrove contact us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is constructed. This is because house builders in Birchgrove typically buy the land, 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 conveyancers 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 Birchgrove or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Birchgrove is where the house is located. Can you offer any assistance?
Flying freeholds in Birchgrove are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Birchgrove you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Birchgrove 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 residence.
Am I best advised to choose a Birchgrove conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can execute the conveyancing however they are based over three hundred miles drive away.
The benefit of a high street Birchgrove conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, deliver your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. Having local Birchgrove know how is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that should surpass using an unknown Birchgrove conveyancing solicitor just because they are based in the area.