Chartered surveyor

A RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) qualified surveyor who is entitled to carry out a survey on a property.

Completion date

This is when ownership of the property passes from buyer to seller. Usually it is after exchange, though simultaneous exchange and completion is possible.

Contract

This sets out the terms of the sale between buyer and seller. It is drawn up by the seller\’s solicitor and will then be negotiated.

Deposit

Not to be confused with the deposit that you agree to put down when you take out a mortgage. In the context of conveyancing, the deposit is the amount (usually 5 – 10%) paid by the buyer to the seller upon exchange of contracts. Once exchange has taken place the contract is a legally binding document and if the buyer fails to complete then they may forfeit their deposit (unless they were misled into signing the contract).

Disbursements

This is the fancy terms for \”expenses\” used by solicitors. Disbursements will include things like search fees and land registry fees. Check that disbursements are included in your quote (most are known in advance) otherwise your bill could be a lot higher than you expect.

Environmental search

A check on records for things like flooding, landfill, waste disposal, contaminated land, etc. that might affect the property.

Exchange

The swapping of signed contracts between buyer and seller. Once exchange has taken place the contract is legally binding and the buyer may lose their deposit they don\’t complete (unless they were misled into signing).

Fixtures, fittings and contents form

This sets out what fixtures and fittings are included in the sale, which ones may be included at a specified price and which ones are negotiable. It can either be included in the HIP or sent after an offer has been made. It is prepared by the seller.

Freehold

When the property comes with the land on which it is built.

HIP

A HIP or Home Information Pack contains information and search results for the property. HIPs are now compulsory and you are required to have a HIP before you market your property (though some documents can be added within 28 days of putting the property on the market).

Indemnity contribution

Insurance taken out by solicitors to protect their clients in the event of mistakes or fraud when dealing with their case (and usually charged to the client).

Land Registry

The Land Registry keeps records of land ownership. When a property is sold it is the buyer\’s solicitor\’s job to make sure that the transfer is recorded at the Land Registry.

Leasehold

A leaseholder owns the propertyonly for the term of the lease and does not own the land on which it stands, which is owned by the freeholder. Once the lease ends ownership of the property passes back to the leaseholder.

Local authority search

A search of local authority records for things that may affect the property, such as: whether the road the property stands on is maintained by the council; planning applications that may affect the property; possible planning restrictions; and rights of way.

Check the area covered by the local authority search. If it only covers a limited area you may want to ask for additional enquiries.

Mortgage

The loan from your bank used to buy a property. Because the mortgage is linked to the property being bought the property cannot be sold until the mortgage is paid off.

Mortgage deed

The legal charge that gives the mortgage lender rights over the property until the mortgage has been repaid.

Mortgage fees

Fees charged by conveyancing solicitors for acting on behalf of their client\’s bank or building society.

Mortgage valuation

This is the valuation survey carried out by your bank or building society before they will lend on a property. It is to make sure that the property is worth at least the amount they are proposing to lend. It should not be confused with a property survey (of which there are different kinds) carried out by a Chartered Surveyor – see Surveys.

Property information form

A questionnaire to be completed by the seller covering basic information about the property. The seller is legally obliged to answer the questions honestly.

Redemption fee

Banks will often charge a redemption fee for paying off a mortgage early. Sometimes this only applies for a certain number of years after the mortgage is taken out.

Redemption payment

The payment made in order to pay off the outstanding balance of a mortgage.

SDLT

Stamp Duty Land Tax – see Stamp Duty

Stamp duty

Officially known as Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). This is the tax charged when buying a property and is usually paid by the buyer. The amount is based on the value of the property.

Surveys

Not to be confused with a valuation survey carried out by a lender. A property survey is carried out by a Chartered Surveyor and can look at various things such as the structure of the building and its value. There are different kinds of surveys and their costs vary significantly.

Title deeds

Documents that prove ownership of a property and set out any rights or obligations affecting the property. If the property is still mortgaged they will be held by the lender.

Transfer deed

Known also as a TR1 (its official form number) this transfers ownership of the property. It is prepared by the buyer\’s solicitor after completion and sent to the Land Registry so the transfer can be recorded.

Water and drainage search

A search of the properties water and drainage supplies. It will check whether these are connected to the main water supply and sewerage system and how the property is billed for these services.

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No matter how many times we have entered the conveyancing process of buying or selling a house, the same inevitable complications crop up, with some new ones to boot; maybe your job takes you from county to county around the country so you’ve done it numerous times, or perhaps you are more of a settler and have only moved once or twice in your lifetime, yet most of us know how stressful it is to move house!

The old owners taking their light switches with them, lost clothes, bad tiling are just a few of the problems that you can look forward to when looking to move into a new house; however, when it comes to the legal aspect of the conveyancing process, there are many more new concerns to worry about.

This is why you should be very careful when choosing which conveyancing solicitors to go for, as the wrong choice could land you with a heap of bother; follow the advice in this article to ensure that you have the smoothest conveyancing process possible.

Even if one set of conveyancing solicitors has glowing references from all of their previous clients, if these clients’ cases were not relevant or similar to your conveyancing case, then there is little point in going with them, so the most important aspect of choosing a conveyancing solicitor is to ascertain which law firm provides conveyancing solicitors with the most relevant experience to your case.

You should also agree a fixed fee with your conveyancing solicitors before you begin any of the legal aspects of the conveyancing process in order to prevent them from racking up any additional charges that you would not be aware of otherwise.

The best way in which you can secure suitable, affordable conveyancing solicitors is through doing as much research as you can; by utilising internet sites that provide a free matching service, you can compare and contrast the various attributes of a wide range of conveyancing solicitors, before settling on a final choice.

If you are in the market for a conveyancing solicitor, whether it be for legal advice on buying or selling a house, then to do your research on which ones are the most suitable for your needs is of eminent importance; remember, don’t just settle for the first one that you find if you can afford to spend a little time looking for someone that is more suitable for your needs.

Looking for competent Conveyancing Solicitors can be demanding and costly. If you are searching for a Conveyancing Solicitor then visit TakeLegalAdvice.com. They have free service to match your requirements with the most qualified law firm.

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As the recession bites everywhere and reaches its lowest troughs, it would appear that no profession is safe from cutbacks, with 3,600 conveyancing solicitors recently being unceremoniously dropped from their advisory positions to two leading high street banks.

Following rival building society Abbey recent move, Britannia and the Co-Operative have let their panel of conveyancing solicitors go from their positions in a reaction to the recent recession.

The Law Society has asked the banks to reverse this decision, yet the banks claim that their investors had made it clear that without the move then they may withdraw mortgage fraud cover.

The move will have negative implementations for the customers of the building societies, as it means that they will have to go to another law firm to get their consultations on the conveyancing process in addition to affecting the conveyancing solicitors, who hail from all areas of the country, including Coventry.

A spokesperson for the banks claimed that they have had to consider the best interests of their investors and their customers and they simply could not afford to choose the panel’s jobs over the support for mortgage fraud.

They were not overjoyed to watch the panel go, as they have put in some stirling work over the years, however it was a decision made for the greater good; mortgage fraud can be devastating for the victims of such con artists, with both the public and the banks losing large amounts of money.

Due to the fact that the banks offer the best cover at the price, they could not afford to go elsewhere, although this would have created an option to keep the solicitors on.

It is doubtless that the dismissed solicitors will find some other work at other companies, yet for those that do not have an immediate fallback plan, the coming months will be tight; it is hoped that Abbey will at least reverse their decision and take back the 7,000 conveyancing solicitors that they dismissed earlier in the year.

If you have a query or question about any element of the conveyancing process, or are in the market to buy or sell a property and would like some expert legal advice then don’t hesitate to contact a Coventry conveyancing solicitor for a professional consultation.

Hiring a good Coventry Conveyancing Lawyer can take time. If you are looking for Property Solicitors in Coventry then TakeLegalAdvice.com has a free service to match your requirements with the best law firm.

If you are new to the game and aren’t aware of all the ‘hidden costs’ that one may incur in making the sale, then the process of selling one’s house can be a tricky business; especially; however, a Manchester conveyancing solicitor has criticised a new bid by the government to put even more costs on to the process of selling a property.

Recently, new laws within the conveyancing world have been put forward that would cause homeowners to pay out an estimated 600 just to put their property on the market; the government is looking to make the controversial Home Information Pack compulsory in an upcoming Housing Bill.

This move has been labelled a ‘disgrace’ by its opposers and one Manchester conveyancing solicitor has stated that it will ‘open up a can of worms’. The crux of the new law means that before a seller puts their property on the market, they must prepare one of the aforementioned Home Information Packs, or HIPS.

This will require many aspects of conveyancing that would not necessarily be asked for under regular circumstances, such as a surveyor’s report and land registry documentation. This could take up to and exceeding six weeks to properly prepare, dependant on circumstances.

The Manchester conveyancing solicitor claims that this law is an unnecessary addition to the conveyancing process, as it will be much more hassle than it is worth. One point that he makes is that if the person looking to purchase a property is aiming to borrow money for the buy, which almost all buyers are, then the building society or bank that they wish to borrow from will insist on using their own surveyor.

If the two surveyors disagree on some parts of the process, which they inevitably will do, then this will lead to unnecessary complications, as the very nature of surveying leads to a certain element of subjectivity.

Now, this may be all very well for the surveyors, who can clock up more billable hours when discussing such complications, but it could be a financial nightmare for the buyer, and an administrative nightmare for a conveyancing lawyer. The Manchester conveyancing solicitor states that we have a good system now, so the rule of, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ should apply.

With all this speculation and confusion surrounding the of house buying process, it is essential that you receive top legal advice; you should contact a Manchester conveyancing solicitor today, to see if you can make the conveyancing process just a little easier.

Searching for a good Conveyancing Solicitor can be stressful and costly. If you are looking for Conveyancing Lawyers in Manchester then TakeLegalAdvice.com has a free service to match your requirements with the best law firm.

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If house prices fall, it’s not only the people selling the properties that are affected; professions within the conveyancing industry are hit hard as well. With a recent decline in house prices, particularly in the North West of England, the country’s conveyancing solicitors are being forced to tighten their proverbial belts.

The summer lull has divided homeowners straight down the line, into those who have the luxury of retaining their asking prices, or even increasing them, and those forced to make the drop, following a recent report that showed that property asking prices dipped by 5,000 in the last month.

The nation’s conveyancing solicitors will be affected, as they may be forced to choose between their clients, the affluent few, or the poorer many.

Conversely, in alignment with the recent drop in prices, there has been a recent surge in the amount of people looking to buy a property; one would have thought that this would mean that the prices would move up, yet unfortunately the mortgage lenders are toughening up their selection policies in a reaction to the recent recession.

Wakefield conveyancing solicitors are seeing a decline in the number of ‘proper’ applicants for the conveyancing process, with many areas in the North, such as Wakefield affected badly by the recession and the knock-on affect of the housing crisis.

Some groups of society are actually effectively ‘locked out’ of the conveyancing process due to the fact that they have borrowed heavily and are now in negative equity, or simply cannot get the resources to begin buying again. These groups of people, who a Wakefield conveyancing solicitor may once have been of potential use to, now have no need for their services.

However, as the summer draws to a close, the market is expected to level out a bit more, with asking prices becoming more reasonable, allowing sellers to purchase bigger and better properties so there is still hope to all affected by this housing slump. Home sellers will look to begin the conveyancing process again, so hopefully this will have a knock on effect throughout the economy, particularly in the housing area.

Contact a Wakefield conveyancing solicitor for a professional consultation if you have a question or query about the conveyancing process, are seeking legal advice or are in the market to buy or sell a house; remember, even if there is a recession on, there is always the opportunity for a bargain!

Finding a good Conveyancing Solicitor can be stressful and costly. If you are looking for Property Solicitors in Wakefield then TakeLegalAdvice.com has a free service to match your needs with the right law firm.