I am assisting my mother sell her house in Old Woking. Will the conveyancing solicitor order an EPC or do I organise this?
Following the abolition of HIPs, energy assessments became a mandatory component of selling a property. An energy performance certificate should be to hand before the property is marketed. This is not something that solicitors normally arrange. If you are instructing a Old Woking conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with long established local providers
I currently have a mortgage with Virgin Money for my property in Old Woking. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Virgin Money?
You must advise Virgin Money prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Virgin Money will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Virgin Money directly. You need not do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel lawyer.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Old Woking solicitor - who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Old Woking surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
What will a local search inform me concerning the house I am buying in Old Woking?
Old Woking conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company such as Onsearch The local search is essential in every Old Woking conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject sections.
four months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Old Woking concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Old Woking in advance of retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some banks tend not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. If you call us we can look into this further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Old Woking. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
We're new to the buying process - agreed a price, yet the agent has warned us that the vendor will only issue a contract if we appoint the agent's recommended lawyers as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a high street conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Old Woking
We suspect that the seller is not behind this ultimatum. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Speak to the owners direct and explain that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to use your own,trusted Old Woking conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide the estate agent a referral fee or achieve conveyancing targets pre-set by corporate headquarters.