Who Plays What Role in Conveyancing?
- The Client and Mortgage Lender (the lending bank):
- We take our instructions from Client and Lender – you tell us what you want e.g. It is you who tells us when you want to complete.
- The Lender has specific rules and regulations, where there is a conflict, the Lender wins.
- In a cash purchase where there is no Lender, we take instructions direct from the client.
- The Solicitor:
- We advise the client. We owe a duty of care – Professional Obligation
- We act for the Lender; we advise them and secure their first charge on the property and owe them a duty of care – Professional Obligation.
- The Mortgage Broker:
- Arranges your mortgage – Professional Obligation.
- The Estate Agent:
- Arranges viewings and finds a buyer/seller – No Professional Obligation
Information that may be of interest
- Let me please clear the myth that solicitors like to hold things up –
This is not true because it does not benefit us in any way. Delays can be caused for a myriad of reasons such as issues in the chain; for example if there is a first time buyer at the bottom of the chain he could be waiting for his mortgage to come through, or if searches have been applied for we need to wait until they ALL come through. I am aware however that some clients do have bad experiences with law firms.
- What is a Probate Sale?
If you are buying house and your hear the phrase “it’s a probate sale” it means the seller has died and his executors ( the people legally entitled to sell the property) are selling on his behalf- this incidentally can cause delays in the transaction because without the Grant of Probate the executors cannot proceed.
- Tax-
We have a stamp duty holiday but only until the end of March 2021 up to £500,000. However, if you are buying a second property you WILL still pay a surcharge tax – that is tax on top of the normal stamp duty and it is a staggered payment depending on how much you buy for but it is in most cases 3% of the WHOLE purchase price. You still save on the stamp duty up to March 2021, but the surcharge still applies to a purchase of a second home.
- Estate Agents –
Information and comments from an estate agent are not legally binding.
- When you find a buyer for your house, you have not sold it:
Be mindful that if you find a buyer he is not secured until exchange of Contracts. Up until that time your property is “Under Offer”.
- You cannot seek money from a buyer/seller who walks away from the deal prior to exchange:
A common question – and no you cannot get compensation the only thing you can look forward to is a small abortive legal bill depending on how much work has been done.
- What is a Valuation and what is a Survey?
The Lending bank when deciding on how much to lend you as a mortgage will value the property and usually not visit the property. A desktop or drive by valuation at the most. A Survey – is done by a surveyor that you appoint (we can give you details of a surveyor) and he visits the premises and reports to you on the property regarding its structure – the report will flag up issues. Sometimes you can negotiate a lower price if it transpires that a lot of work will need to be carried out to rectify defects.
Our capabilities in terms of working with property law matters:
- Sale of Property
- Purchase of Property
- Refinancing
- Mortgages
- Transfers to Related Parties
- commercial property
- Leases