My husband and I are planning to purchase a flat in Ongar and have instructed a Ongar conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Nottingham Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Ongar lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Ongar lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am in a contract race with another prospective purchaser for a property in Ongar. What can I do to expedite matters?
In the event that the seller is applying pressure to complete it is highly recommended that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will have local connections and intelligence. It is even conceivable that they could have handled otherhouses in the same neighbourhood. Therefore consider using a Ongar conveyancing lawyer. Second, ensure that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is said that just under twenty per cent of Ongar conveyancing deals are suspended or derailed after discovering a purchaser’s solicitor was not on their mortgage lender’s panel. This can often result in the transaction being delayed by almost three weeks. It is claimed that this issue impacts approximately 100,000 home moves every year. Almost all Ongar conveyancing practices can not represent certain mortgage companies so do check at the outset.
My aunt informed me that in buying a property in Ongar there may be a number of restrictions prohibiting external alterations to a property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Ongar which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Ongar should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Nottingham. Ongar conveyancing lawyers are selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Nottingham?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Nottingham done the valuation? Have you advised Nottingham as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
About to purchase house in Ongar. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Ongar property lawyer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
I require fast conveyancing in Ongar as I have a deadline to sign on the dotted line within one month. Luckily I do not require a mortgage. Is it possible to avoid the conveyancing searches to save money and time?
As you are are a cash buyer you are at liberty not to do searches although no law firm would recommend that you don't. With lots of history conveyancing in Ongar the following are examples of what can show up and adversely affect future mortgageability: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Fees, Outstanding Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
My wife and I own a renovated Edwardian house in Ongar. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Ongar and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.