My husband and I are planning to purchase a 3 bedroom apartment in Porthleven with a mortgage. We like our Porthleven solicitor, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Porthleven lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Porthleven conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Do I have to pop into the offices of the solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Porthleven so that I can attend their offices if necessary.
As opposed to twenty years ago, almost all lenders no longer oblige their conveyancing panel lawyer to witness the mortgagors signature. It will still be necessary for you to provide ID documents and there are still manifest advantages to choosing a locally based practitioner, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Porthleven.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Porthleven I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Porthleven in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
Am I better off to appoint a Porthleven conveyancing solicitor based in the location that I am hoping to buy? We have a good friend who can handle the legal work but her office is 200miles away.
The primary upside of using a local Porthleven conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, hand in your ID and pester them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and they were content that must trump using an unknown Porthleven conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Porthleven based.
New build sellers have suggested I use a solicitor and I've received an estimate from them. It's almost £250 less expensive than my preferred Porthleven solicitor. What's the catch?
Builders normally have lists of solicitors who are quick and who know the developer’s documentation and conveyancer. Plenty of developers offer an inducement to use a preferred lawyer for this reason, any increased fees can be avoided and a developer will not recommend a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the transaction stall when they demand an exchange within a tight deadline. A counter-argument for not agreeing to use the suggested conveyancer is that they may be unwilling to fight for your interests at the risk of upsetting the housebuilder. Where you have concerns that this may be the case you should keep with your local Porthleven lawyer.