As a first time buyer what is the most important piece of guidance you can impart about purchase conveyancing in Sidmouth?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Sidmouth and elsewhere in Devon is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the home moving process. For example, the vendor, selling agent and sometimes a mortgage company. Selecting a lawyer for your conveyancing in Sidmouth should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the process whose role it is to protect your best interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a worrying increase in the "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer ahead of the other parties in the conveyancing process.
The Sidmouth conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Sidmouth have suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a lawyer on the Skipton conveyancing panel and my preferred Sidmouth lawyer was not. I paid them £170 in advance. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Skipton conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Sidmouth prior to retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some lenders may not grant a mortgage on such a house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Sidmouth. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Sidmouth to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Is there anything unique about your site and other online quote calculators when it comes to conveyancing in Sidmouth?
At this site secure a conveyancing quote via a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer that understands the issues for your conveyancing in Sidmouth. Unlike many estate agents and many comparison sites we do not have kick-back deals with solicitors. Some agents and online brokers 'recommend' the firm who pay the highest commission, rather than the best value conveyancing in Sidmouth
Is it best to go with a Sidmouth conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am buying? We have a good friend who can perform the legal work but they are based 400miles away.
The primary upside of using a local Sidmouth conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have used your friend and in the main were impressed that must outweigh using an unknown Sidmouth conveyancing lawyer just because they are round the corner.