Conveyancing

Selling

At the Legal House your dedicated conveyancer will guide you through the sale process in a quick and efficient manner to ensure the sale proceeds smoothly to completion. The basic steps involved in selling your property are:

.

• You will need to complete the Property Information Form and Fixtures and Fittings form to provide the buyer with information about the property and the items you will be leaving
• We will send this information and the legal contracts to the buyers solicitor
• We will answer any legal enquiries that the buyer’s lawyer raises
• We will deal with your existing mortgage lender and repay the mortgage sum owed

We also work and co-operate with the estate agents who play a part in the transaction.

How long the conveyancing process takes varies from case to case, as a rough guide the process takes around 12 - 16 weeks for a sale or a purchase.

Buying

Our aim is to make sure you move into your home with the minimum of stress. A purchase transaction will normally involve:-

• checking the legal title and the searches to ensure it is acceptable
• raising enquiries with the seller's lawyer to ensure our your interests are safeguarded
• approving the Contract drawn up by the seller’s lawyer
• making searches of the relevant authorities to find any concerns that would have a negative effect on owning the property
• checking your mortgage offer to ensure any agreed loans are adequate and that you are aware of their responsibilities
• co-ordinating the collection of your deposit money and your mortgage money to purchase the property

And of course we work and co-operate with the mortgage advisors and estate agents who play a part in the transaction.

Purchasing your council house

If you have made an application and accepted an agreement to purchase your council house under the Right to Buy scheme, you will need to appoint a lawyer.

Here at The Legal House we can act for you and guide you through the process of purchasing your council house. We will ensure that the process will complete as quickly as possible and inform you of the terms of the purchase under the Right to Buy scheme.

Remortgaging

When you remortgage, you are switching your mortgage to another deal, and frequently another lender.
Remortgages can be used for various reasons, most people simply switch mortgage because it will work out cheaper for them, for example, the introductory discounted interest rate may have finished with your current lender; therefore you could get a discount, or a lower APR, with another lender.

Other individuals may use a re-mortgage to consolidate their debts, if they take out their remortgage for a larger amount than owed on the existing mortgage or just to release some equity in the property to spend on a luxury item or holiday.

The key stages for a remortgage are:

1.  Once you receive a quote from us, we will send you initial paperwork to complete and return

2.  On receipt of your paperwork we will order your title documents from the Land registry and check any mortgages that need to be repair or restricitons on your title.

3.  We will contact any exisiting mortgage lender you have for a repayment statement

4. We will carry out any checks or searches that your new lender may require

5.  On receipt of your mortgage offer we will report to you and send you the mortgage  deed to sign.  Any adult occupiers in the property will also be contacted to  sign an occupiers consent to the mortgage

6.  A completion date can then be arranged and we will carry out bankruptcy searches and priority searches with the land registry.  You can usually complete within 7 to 14 days of your mortgage offer having been issued.

7.  We will send you a completion statement to show how the funds will be distributed.  On the completion day we receive the money from the lender for you new mortgage, pay off any exisiting loans and remit any balance to you, less your legal fees

8.  The final stage is we submit an application to the Land Registry to register the new mortgage against your property and once this is complete send you your updated title.

Transfer of Equity

If you wish to change the legal ownership of the property, we can help. There are a number of reasons our clients wish to carry out transfers of equity, sometimes because couples have married or separated; other times it is for tax planning, whatever the reason, The Legal House will provide you with advice and carry out the transfer.

The standard key stages are:

1.    You need to apply for a new mortgage, if you need one.  If you do not need a new mortgage and wish to stay with the same provider, you will need to contact your mortgage company for the consent to transfer the loan into your sole name or joint names where relevant

2.   Instruct a conveyancer.  If someone is joinin you onto the property, you can both be represented by the same conveyancer.  If someone is leaving the property, you need seperate legal representation

3.   You will need to complete and return initial paperwork instructing us with details of any source of funds

4.  We will check the property title, deal with any exisiting charges, draft the transfer deed an ensure any lender requirements are fulfilled

5.  Once all parties have signed and funds are in place we will complete the transfer of equity, pay any party leaving the property,  and register the change of ownership and any new mortgages with the Land Registry.  Once the Land Registry complete the application, the new title will be sent to you.

 The process usually takes around 3-6 weeks, but will vary depending on your personal circumstances and whether or not you also require a new mortgage offer.