Purchasing flat: What to expect of/ask the solicitor we hire?

Hello. We have found a flat that we are currently bidding on. It looks like we may be successful at the bidding stage.

So, what next? We are first time home buyers. We are both Americans who moved to the UK earlier this year. We have been renting, so we don't have to sell anything. I am concened that we are completely dumb at this.

We went to the bank to find out about mortgages, and know what our limits are/what we have to put down. But, should we HAVE the mortgage paperwork for our first visit to the solicitor? What do we bring to the solicitor for the first meeting? (Or do we visit the solicitor first, and THEN go get the mortgage?)

My ex pat friend in London said she was disappointed with her experience with the solicitor and that they did not ask their solicitor the right questions. For her, she did not know enough about the freehold that they moved into. So, what ARE the right questions? What do you wish you had asked?

The flat is a newbuild with a leasehold--if that helps.

Many thanks in advance for any advice or stories about successful or unsucessful purchases.

Rutabega

You don't need to take any mortgage papers to the first meeting but as you'll need to take them at some point take take them if you have them.  The solicitor will need some proof of ID (passport etc.) at some point so maybe ask before you go what they need.  It's pretty usual for paperwork to come in in dribs and drabs so don't worry about it, obviously it's in your advantage to collect as mush in one go to save yourself a trip/stamp/fax.

I'd say perhaps the most important question is cost, conveyancing is pretty standard so I'd ask "why" if they were quoting an usually high or low price.  Also some firms offer a flat fee where as some itemise and charge per task, something to bear in mind is that there can be quite a bit of back and forth between you and the seller this can add up if you are being charged per letter.

If you're looking at a leasehold then all the details will come back as part of the searches (length, conditions and covenants, payment etc.) but don't be afraid to ask questions about this as it will probably involve some legalese.

Another question is how are they at communicating with you?  There tends to be a lot of questions that crop up, some firms are very up to date with email and whatnot and some are quite old school and will send you a million letters.  Think what method suits you bearing in mind that too much post will add time to the process.

I forgot that flat buying has a whole raft of issues you don't get with a house because you have to deal with whoever owns the building (in some cases buying a flat may buy you a share in the whole building too.)  These will come up in the searches but it's worth making sure you understand any explanations.  Things to ask about are fees, what say you have in the management of the building, are you responsible for any external repairs are the current arrangemnts fixed or can they be changed...

I can't offer any help to buying in the UK specifically, but I'll mention this.  Having purchased and sold property elsewhere in the EU, I would always STRONGLY recommend hiring your own personal attorney who specializes in real estate to review all documents before you sign them and to offer you advice. 

I got burned once because a short clause in a sales contract that I thought was simple and clear turned out to be vague under local property law and that whole mess turned into an expensive civil lawsuit.  Had I hired an attorney who was looking after my interests from the get go, I could have avoided the whole mess.

Alistair, do you mean an attorney above and beyond the real estate solicitor? I'm not an expert on these matters, but we're in the process of buying a flat at the moment and we've only needed to hire one solicitor, who specializes in real estate.

I'm sure there are more issues than we've personally covered, but in our experience we've had to deal (lengthily) with issues regarding repairs to the flat (ask if they're the responsibility of the freehold/landlord or your own/the seller's), and finding out about general repairs to the building, such as whether or not there's a "sinking fund" in place for any external maintenance, and whether the sellers have been paying into it; also, when any general repairs are likely to take place - you don't want to move in and then get directly smacked with a huge bill for your share of the renovations because there was no sinking fund. (On the other hand, if the property is in need of maintenance, you want to know that you won't be left with fraying carpet and peeling wallpaper in the communal areas forever.) You also want to know how much ground rent is, who and how the property is managed, and any other recurring costs that you're responsible for throughout the year.

Your solicitors will be the ones to find out all of these things - as well as other, similar issues - for you during the buying process. Essentially, their job is to align your interests with those of the sellers', represented by their own solicitor. It can take a very long time (especially in our case, with coordinating the necessary repairs), but most of this time is taken up with the solicitors exchanging proposed contracts between each other until all parties are satisfied.

Definitely take your mortgage paperwork, if it's available. Have you already gone to a mortgage advisor? I recommend going to one straight away, because they have access to many mortgages offered by multiple banks, rather than limiting yourself to one bank and only the options they provide. In this economic climate, you want to get the best rate possible. Shopping around is to your advantage.

It doesn't matter if you get your mortgage or your solicitor first - they're two separate, but both necessary, services. Just be sure that you have both as soon as possible - the estate agents and the sellers won't be inclined to do business with buyers who don't have a firm mortgage offer and aren't taking steps to close the deal by hiring a solicitor.

Anyhow, good luck! It's exciting to be buying a new place, and the better prepared you are, the less painful the process should be. Get some recommendations on a good solicitor from friends or online review sites like yelp.co.uk or qype.co.uk. Hope it goes smoothly for you!

Alistair, do you mean an attorney above and beyond the real estate solicitor? I'm not an expert on these matters, but we're in the process of buying a flat at the moment and we've only needed to hire one solicitor, who specializes in real estate.

Again, I don't know how the purchase/sale process is in the UK.  In some EU countries there is no solicitor involved in the process at all, just a notary.  As long as you have a solicitor that is paid for by you, strictly representing you and has your best interest in mind, then you should be okay. 

My only advice would be to select solicitor, conveyancer, etc. that are near where you are.  With postal strike going on it could definitely slow down the process.  It did for our recent purchase, and since the solicitor was an hour away made the whole situation a hassle.