This question may be naive but I am new to the home moving as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Waltham. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Waltham?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Waltham. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you will be called to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
A relative pointed out to me me that in purchasing a property in Waltham there could be various restrictions prohibiting external changes to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Waltham which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Waltham should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We had instructed conveyancing lawyers located in Waltham on the Skipton solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a separate amount for the legal aspects of the Skipton mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Skipton?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer may charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Skipton but by your Waltham lawyer. Some firms on the Skipton panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I'm buying my first flat in Waltham with a mortgage from Britannia. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my solicitor about this deal as it would put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Waltham I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it only has 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Waltham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
Should I instruct a Waltham conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am buying? An old friend can execute the legal formalities however his firm is located 400miles away.
The benefit of a local Waltham conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to sign documents, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Waltham know how is a benefit. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were content that must outweigh using an unfamiliar Waltham conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being local.
Fiveweeks into buying a house in Waltham. Conveyancing lawyer has told us the title is "Leasehold". Should this impact the marketability of the property?
Waltham conveyancing does not in most situations involve leasehold houses. The key factor here is the unexpired lease term and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's virtually freehold, so it’s unlikely to affect the saleability too much.
At the other extreme, if it's, say, Sixty years it will have a material effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be mortgageable. The length of lease and ground rent will be specified in the lease which should be made available to your solicitor.