I have just been advised by my estate agent that my Mickleover solicitor is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. What can I do to be certain if this is indeed the case?
The sensible course of action for you to take is to contact your Mickleover conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Mickleover conveyancing practice that is on the conveyancing panel for your bank.
The deeds to our house can not be found. The lawyers who dealt with the conveyancing in Mickleover 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?
You no longer need to hold title deeds to evidence that you own the land or premises, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one near me in Mickleover I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Mickleover suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
I have been recommended by a number of property agents in Mickleover to choose a conveyancer on your site. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to offer any financial incentive for sending work in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Builders have put forward a lawyer and I've received an estimate from them. They are nearly two hundred pounds cheaper than my own Mickleover lawyer. What's the catch?
Builders frequently have lists of solicitors who expedite matters and who know the developer’s contract and solicitor. As many developers offer an inducement to use a preferred conveyancing practitioner for this reason, any increased cost can be avoided and a developer won't suggest a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the conveyancing delayed when they want exchange inside a month. The argument for not agreeing to use the recommended solicitor is that they may prove reluctant to 'push' your interests for fear of upsetting the sellers. Where you have concerns that this may be the situation you should keep with your high street Mickleover conveyancing practitioner.