Remortgage

How can mortgage solicitors help me?

Whilst it’s all part and parcel of home ownership, remortgaging can sometimes be a tricky process so you’ll need to take legal advice on it. Our remortgaging solicitors are on all the main lender panels and the majority of the smaller lenders which means we can act for you and the lender at no extra cost. 

How do I remortgage my house?

There are a few stages to remortgaging your property and a specialist mortgage solicitor will help you mange the process. Here are some of the things you need to understand:

• Re-mortgaging, why choose Russell & Russell?

  You should choose us because our specialist property lawyers are best placed to help you through the process of re-mortgaging. We have a wealth of experience and knowledge of all aspects of property transactions whether they are freehold or leasehold, a flat, a house or just land. All our staff that would touch your case specialise in property work, have had training in that area and receive on-going training to keep them up to date with changes. We are a long established practice but have a modern approach. You can instruct us by calling into our office, by post, by email or through our Portal.

• When should I instruct you?

  We would strongly recommend that you get in contact with us at the very beginning when you are thinking of re-mortgaging.  We can give you advice on the process which is particularly important if you have not re-mortgaged before. If you are an investor who regularly re-mortgages you know how important it is to forewarn us of what you are planning. Get in front of the game.

• Can you also act for my lender?

  If you have not re-mortgaged before that might sound a somewhat strange question but it is actually an important one. If you are taking out a mortgage your lender also requires legal representation and some are very selective. The good news is that we are on the conveyancing panels of all the high street lenders and also the open panels of the specialist lenders. We are also on the closed panels of both Aldermore and Pepper Money – they limit who can act for them which speaks for itself. Other lenders have their own favourites and you may be encouraged to use another conveyancer but you should think twice about that as we value your custom and want to act for you for many years to come.

• I am thinking of re-mortgaging, what should I do?

  Contact us, an initial enquiry costs nothing.

• What is a remortgage?

  A remortgage is when you apply to borrow money from a lender to repay any existing charge secured against your property and/or to release further equity from the property.

• How much does it cost for you to act for me when remortgaging my property?

  Full information about our fees can be found here.

• Will Russell & Russell provide a written conveyancing fee estimate for my remortgage?

  We always provide a written estimate at the outset of a transaction. This will be based on the information provided by you to us at that time. This reflects the fact that we know that you need to budget and also to ensure that there's no misunderstanding between us at a later time.  We hope you will be delighted with our services and will use us again and appreciate that will not be the case if you feel that we have let you down over costs. We can write to you with the fee estimate or email it to you.

  In the case of residential conveyancing, we usually offer a fixed fee. We quote a fixed fee for the work normally undertaken in a standard case and will provide you with a list of additional fixed fees that we would charge if you require additional work to be undertaken. An example of additional fees in the case of a re-mortgage would be our fee to cover the extra time obtaining a Certificate of Compliance 

  We will always honour the fixed fee quoted unless the information relied upon by us at the time of the estimate was incorrect or it subsequently becomes apparent that there's an aspect of the transaction that will significantly affect the amount of time that has to be spent by us. In either case we will notify you of any such development before we proceed further so that you can decide whether to incur additional expense. Examples of circumstances that might change the cost would be if the property is a flat, not a house as you initially informed us. For a free quote and breakdown of related Disbursements known at this time, please use our quote enquiry form.

  In addition to receiving instructions direct from borrowers, we also work alongside brokers, referrers and property agents who refer clients to us. If we've agreed to pay to them a referral fee for recommending us to act for you then we'll disclose the amount to you and we'll pay the amount involved to the referrer out of our fee.

• How long does the remortgage conveyancing process take?

  Unfortunately nobody can say for sure how long the process will take – every transaction has its own different circumstances. The length of the chain of properties and the speed at which other parties involved in the transaction work will all be relevant. Furthermore, if a new mortgage is required by one or more parties involved, that can also cause delay as, generally speaking, mortgages appear to be taking longer than people expect.

  For a straightforward re-mortgage transaction, completion should take place within two to four weeks of the mortgage offer being issued.

• What are the key stages of the conveyancing remortgage process?

  You should instruct us once you submit the mortgage application so that we can be prepared and ready to take action immediately after you receive an acceptable mortgage offer. Once you've accepted a mortgage offer, and instructed your conveyancer to proceed, there are several steps which must be completed. The key stages included in our prices are:

  • You instruct your conveyancer and the usual Identity and Anti Money Laundering checks are undertaken
  • Title deeds, mortgage redemption figures (if you have a mortgage) and other required information are gathered from you. These tend to be more complex for leasehold or managed properties
  • Any searches required by the new lender are carried out by your conveyancer, which may give rise to further enquiries that you may need to assist in answering. If the lender agrees, we'll use Search Indemnity Insurance which costs less than obtaining the searches and also avoids delay
  • In anticipation of completion we'll arrange for you to sign the new Mortgage Deed and will obtain and check your mortgage redemption statement to ensure there is enough money to redeem your mortgage
  • A target completion date is agreed with you and we request the new mortgage advance from your new lender
  • On the day of completion, the new lender sends the mortgage monies to our bank account. When the monies are received the transaction is complete and your conveyancer will attend to redemption of your mortgage. Following completion your conveyancer will attend to the distribution of the balance mortgage proceeds available for payment to you by transferring funds to your bank account and will notify you that all has satisfactorily completed. Time permitting this will be dealt with on the day

• What is a valuation survey?

  This is the physical inspection of the property to ensure that there aren’t any obvious problems with it and confirm the amount of what the property might be worth, but it isn’t a full survey.

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