Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in East Finchley is more expensive?
East Finchley leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a garden flat in East Finchley. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in East Finchley?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will transfer the purchase money to the seller's conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my East Finchley building society branch on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My East Finchley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called to say that they will not lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 conditions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in East Finchley. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £150. A couple of days later, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I require fast conveyancing in East Finchley as I am faced with a deadline to complete in less than 3 weeks. Luckily I do not require a mortgage. Is it possible to avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are not taking a mortgage you are at free not to do searches although no lawyer would recommend that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in East Finchley the following are instances of issues that can be revealed and therefore impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Charges, Overdue Grants, Railway Schemes,...
How does conveyancing in East Finchley differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in East Finchley contact us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is built. This is because builders in East Finchley typically acquire 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 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 used to new build conveyancing in East Finchley or who has acted in the same development.
I was recommended by numerous selling agents in East Finchley to get a quote from a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to market your site rather than another?
We don’t give any referral fee for sending work in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.