Conveyancing
brokers
Conveyancing Quotes From Property Solicitors
FAQ's
CONVEYANCING
1. The Practice
Your conveyancing will be carried out by one of our appointed panel
solicitors. Because there is no need for personal meetings, it is not
necessary that the law firm should be near to where you live or work.
Communication between you and the law firm can take place by email,
letter or telephone.
2. Contact
Your point of contact will be the actual Conveyancer carrying out the
transaction. Contact can be made by letter, telephone and email. After
instructing us you will receive our Client Care email which will confirm
the costs involved, the process itself and the Direct Dial number of
the individual who will be dealing with you.
3. Timescale
It depends upon a number of factors. ie. how long the chain is, whether
people have new mortgages to obtain, and most important, how quickly
information is provided by the other side. As a guideline, we would
suggest that you expect a period of four to eight weeks - if you require
a quicker service please let us know and we will try our best to assist.
4. Disbursements
Search Fees. Depending upon your location in England or Wales the Personal
Search fee may vary. However the solicitor should not charge in excess
of £129.00 for the Personal search.
If further searches are required, to protect your interests, the costs will be notified to you. These may include Water, Coal, Enviro & Chancel Searches.
It may be necessary to carry out bankruptcy searches - these cost £2.00 per person.
To Register the property the solicitor charges the amount as detailed by the Inland Revenue. For further information on this subject please refer to; www.landreg.gov.uk
Land Registry Search Fee. The cost of this is £6.00.
5. Other Costs
In certain situations where a property is Leasehold or there is a Management
Company or it's a new build property the solicitor reserves the right
to charge an additional £75.00 + VAT. If this action is necessary
the Practice will write to you seperately.
The costs listed are those within a standard transaction. If , in order to complete a transaction, the solicitor has to make further payments to third parties these will be notified to you seperately.
6. Will I Be Charged If I Pull Out?
Aside from the cost of any Searches carried out on your behalf, and
at the discretion of the solicitor, the maximum you can be charged (upto
Exchange of Contracts) will be £75 + VAT.
If you subsequently organise another transaction via the Practice this charge will be waived.
7. Fees Not Charged
You will not be charged extra for postage (within the UK), photocopying,
archiving, acting for the lender or indemnity insurance.
Please note that we will endeavour to resolve any unresolved matters as amicably as possible.
For a full copy of our Terms and Conditions please contact us seperately.
If you have any further questions regarding your conveyancing which have not been addressed please email; answers@conveyancingbrokers.com and we will do our best to help.
GLOSSARY
Completion Date
This is the day that ownership of the property passes from the seller
to the buyer.
The seller and buyer should discuss dates between themselves and then notify their respective solicitors - who will try to fit in with the suggested date. If there are unforeseen delays, such as, if the buyer does not receive a search or mortgage offer in time, or the "cash buyer" turns out to have a related sale then the completion date may have to be revised For this reason you should not make any firm arrangements such as giving notice on a job, arranging removals etc without first contacting the referral solicitor.
Only when contracts are exchanged and a completion date is fixed can you be virtually guaranteed that the completion date will be met. It is not essential for you to be present on the completion date but if you are going to be away, then you should let the solicitor know so that, maybe, one of your relatives (or friends) can act for you through a Power of Attorney.
Contract
This is the agreement between the buyer and the seller. It sets out
the main terms of what has been agreed such as the property, the price
and the names of the parties. It also deals with the process if something
goes wrong. Rather than making the buyer and the seller meet to sign
the same contract, the seller's solicitor draws up two copies of the
same contract, and each party signs their own copy. When both parties
are ready to legally commit, the two contracts are then exchanged.
Deposit
This can cause confusion. When most people talk about the deposit they
mean the part of the purchase price that the buyer is putting down i.e.
usually the difference between the amount of the mortgage and the purchase
price. When Solicitors talk about the deposit they are talking about
the money that is handed over to the seller's Solicitors upon exchange
of contracts. This might be the same amount, but it might not.
On exchange of contracts the seller can insist on receiving from the buyer a 10% deposit of the purchase price. However as many people are not contributing as much as this to the purchase reduced deposits are often acceptable. You should be aware, however, that if you are a buyer and you pay a reduced deposit and then fail to complete the purchase through no fault of the seller, you will, under the terms of the contract, be required to make the deposit up to the full 10%. You may also have to pay compensation to the seller if the seller loses out through your failure to complete.
Exchange Contracts
This is a very important event. From the minute contracts are verbally
exchanged, usually by phone, the matter becomes binding. From that moment
on, the seller must sell, the buyer must buy, it must be done at the
price stated in the contract. Until contracts are exchanged NOTHING
is binding - either party can walk away from the transaction with no
penalty.
Freehold
Ownership of both the property and the land.
Indemnity Contribution
Indemnity insurance is taken out by all Solicitors to cover losses to
clients arising from errors or fraud in dealing with their matters.
The Supervising Solicitor are required by the Law Society to pay for this insurance in respect of every transaction. Some solicitors recover the premium from their clients.
Land Registry
A Central body that retains records of who owns the land, and under
what conditions.
This was set up in 1925, to simplify the conveyancing process. Not all land in England and Wales is registered today. This is partly due to the fact that land can only be registered following certain "triggering events". The Land Registry has their own website which provides useful information.
Leasehold
Temporary ownership of the property but not the land on which it stands.
When the lease expires ownership of the land reverts back to who ever
owns the freehold.
Legal Fee
This is a fixed cost that covers the cost of the time the solicitors
spend on your conveyancing.
Local Authority Search
This represents a list of questions about the property which are sent
to the local authority. It covers items such as, whether the road serving
the property should be maintained by the council, whether there have
been any planning applications on the property, and a number of other
things.
The search is against the property only and does not cover the surrounding area. A word of warning - the search will not necessarily show any Planning Permissions or matters affecting land or buildings outside the boundaries of the property. It is important that you let us know at the start of the transaction if you require information on any particular point or if you wish us to ask any particular questions of the local authority. We would not advise a buyer to exchange contracts without a satisfactory local authority search.
There are two main types of searches, Official and Personal - our figures are based on using Personal Searches.
Official Search costs vary through out the country and can range from £60 to £250. Your lender may insist on an Official Search and in that case we'll need to generate a new quote.
Mortgage
This is a loan to help you buy the house. The mortgage is 'attached'
to your title deeds, and means that you cannot sell the property without
paying it off at the same time.
Contracts should not be exchanged until an acceptable written mortgage offer has been received. It is not sufficient that you have had a verbal offer from you bank or building society that they will grant you a mortgage.
In many cases a mortgage may be supported by an endowment, pension or mortgage protection policy and in these circumstances the solicitor must confirm to the lender, before exchange of contracts, that there are existing policies or arrangements have been made for new policies to be brought into effect immediately contracts are exchanged.
If you are selling, the solicitor will contact your mortgage lender at an early stage to ask how much it will cost to pay off the mortgage. You may find that you will be charged a financial penalty if you redeem the mortgage early. This is a consideration to be taken into account when agreeing a completion date, and often applies when your existing mortgage was set up on a fixed rate, or you obtained a 'cashback' figure.
Mortgage Deed
The legal charge of the property to the mortgage lender - until such
time as the loan is repaid.
Mortgage Fees
These fees are normally charged for acting on behalf of your bank or
building society.
We do not, usually, charge an additional fee for acting on behalf of your bank or building society.
Property Information Form
This is a questionnaire about the property completed by the sellers.
It covers such items as guarantees, neighbour disputes and boundaries.
If you are buying then time can be saved if you tell the solicitor, at an early stage, if there are any particular points about the property that concern you. The appropriate questions can then be asked.
If you are selling and the buyer's solicitor asks a question to which you do not wish to give an answer, for whatever reason, it is essential that you discuss it with your solictor. Failure to disclose information could give the buyer grounds for taking action against you.
Redemption
The final repayment of a mortgage loan.
Redemption Fee
Penalty sometimes incurred on early redemption off a mortgage.
Our solicitors do not charge an additional fee to redeem (pay off) your existing mortgage.
Stamp Duty
This is a tax charged by the government, and only affects you if you
buy a property for more than £125,000. It is paid by the buyer.
If you buy for exactly £125,000 you pay nothing in stamp duty; if you pay from £125,000 to £250,000 stamp duty is charged at 1% on the whole of the purchase price. From £250,001 to £500,000 it is charged at 3%, and above £500,000 it is charged at 4.
Survey
This is a report carried out by the Building Society surveyor on the
physical state of the property.
If you are buying a property you should be aware that the property is "sold as seen". It is for you, as the buyer, to discover any physical defects by means of inspections and surveys.
Most houses are bought with the assistance of a mortgage and the bank or building society, will require a mortgage valuation. However, this is not a survey - it merely ensures that the property is of sufficient value to protect the lender's interest. Our advice is that you should at least have an RICS Homebuyer's Report prepared by a qualified surveyor. This will cost more than a mortgage valuation but it is advisable. It is possible to go one step further and have a full structural survey.
Title Deeds
These documents act as evidence that the person selling the property
actually owns it and sets out any rights or obligations that affect
the property.
If you are selling, then valuable time can be saved if your title deeds can be obtained at an early stage. If you have a mortgage then your bank or building society will be holding your title deeds. Your solicitor will need to know your mortgage account number and the name and address of the lender. Some lenders charge a fee to send out your deeds but this will normally be added to your mortgage account.
Why Conveyancing Brokers?
- No Hidden Fees
- No Completion - No Fee
- Fixed Legal Fees
- Direct Contact With Your Lawyer
- Match Any Like-For-Like Quotes
- Established and Reliable
- Fast, Friendly and Efficient
Many thanks for this. I just wanted to say what a great and professional company you have been to deal with. Everything you promised has happened and within the times you have said. Plus we don't feel we have been ripped off unlike through the estate agents!!
Kate