I am acquiring a property for cash in Cookham. I have resided for the last Seventeen years in Cookham. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I know the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a mortgage, then almost all of the Cookham conveyancing searches are optional. Your solicitor will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he is duty bound to do this. One thing to take into account; if you are intend to dispose of the house at a future date, it will be of importance to your future buyer what the searches determine. On occasion premises with functional issues can still throw up unexpected search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Cookham will provide you some helpful guidance concerning this.
My aunt passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Cookham. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Skipton, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
If you intend to refinance then Skipton will require that you use a conveyancer on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Skipton mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Cookham. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. 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 for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cookham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
How does conveyancing in Cookham differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Cookham come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is completed. This is because new home sellers in Cookham usually buy the real estate, 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 property lawyers 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 used to new build conveyancing in Cookham or who has acted in the same development.
Developers have put forward a conveyancing practitioner and I've sought a quote from them. It's nearly two hundred pounds less expensive than my local Cookham solicitor. Should I use them?
Builders frequently have panels of conveyancers who expedite matters and who know the builder's contract and conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of developers offer an inducement to use their approved property lawyer for this reason, any increased cost can be avoided and a builder won't suggest a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the transaction delayed when they demand an exchange within a tight deadline. A counter-argument for not agreeing to use the recommended lawyer is that they may be hesitant to fight for your interests at the risk of upsetting the housebuilder. Where you have concerns that this may be the case you should stick with your high street Cookham conveyancing practitioner.