At what point will exchange of contracts occur in purchase conveyancing in Edgbaston and do I need to attend the solicitors branch?
If you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Edgbaston you are welcome to come in to sign contracts. That being said, the law practices we work with offer a national conveyancing service and give as equally diligent and professional a job for you when communicating with you by post or email. The signing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the firm to officially exchange when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a long "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Edgbaston)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
My grandmother passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Edgbaston. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £4500. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Virgin Money, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Given you intend to re-mortgage then Virgin Money will require that you use a conveyancer on the Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
My husband and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Edgbaston and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a property lawyer appointed at this stage? I will be getting a home loan with Skipton.
It would be advisable to start your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Skipton, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Edgbaston. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
Intending to buy a flat in Edgbaston. 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 Kent Reliance 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 Edgbaston conveyancer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.
How does conveyancing in Edgbaston differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Edgbaston contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is constructed. This is because house builders in Edgbaston usually 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 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 Edgbaston or who has acted in the same development.
I decided to have a survey done on a house in Edgbaston prior to retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not grant a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Edgbaston. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Edgbaston to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.