Helping you with your mortgage or remortgage
For many people, it is not only when they buy a property that they will need to think about a mortgage. Often, homeowners who own their property without a mortgage will need to think about taking out a mortgage – possibly to provide funds for some other event in their lives – or they may have a mortgage and simply wish to change mortgage providers, for example to get a better rate of interest or even to release some of the value of their property.
Whatever the reason for mortgaging or remortgaging your property, Janet Sinden & Co can help you through what can be a complicated process. As with all of the transactions in which we are involved, we will always strive to be as efficient as possible and will make sure that we deal with everything, from the redemption of the existing mortgage to the completion of a new one, in such a way as to cause you as little stress as we can.
Although you are not purchasing a new property, if you are taking out a mortgage on a property that has not previously been mortgaged, or you are changing from one mortgage provider to another, then many of the processes that would have been required on a purchase will still need to be carried out. This is to make sure that the new mortgage provider gets a good title to the property that secures their loan.
Note that if you are simply switching from one type of mortgage to another but remaining with the same lender then this is not a remortgage and, in most cases, can be dealt with by the lender themselves without a solicitor being involved.
The mortgage and remortgage process
Although mortgaging or remortgaging a property is more straightforward than undertaking a sale or purchase, nevertheless there are still a number of essential steps that we will be required to take on your behalf in order for the transaction to be carried out. In particular, we will still need to check the title to your property so that we can be sure that the new lender has an adequate security on your home to protect the loan.
The following is a brief overview of what we are likely to need to do. Not all mortgages and remortgages will proceed this way and details can vary according to the nature of the transaction, the type of property and where it is located. Be assured, however, that we will always tailor our services to meet your precise needs and requirements. Should you need more information, then please do not hesitate to contact us.
- We will start by taking your instructions. This can include getting details of your present mortgage, finding out who has the documents to your property (if you or a current lender do not have them) and checking to make sure that there are not going to be any problems – for example co-owners whose consent will need to be obtained. We will also need to get evidence of your identity so that we can comply with the strict money-laundering duties to which we are subject.
- If you are remortgaging your property – in other words taking out a new mortgage with a new provider – you will need to tell your existing mortgage provider that we are acting in the remortgage so that they can send us the documents and we will also need details of your property insurance.
- For a remortgage, we will find out how much is currently outstanding on your existing mortgage and get details of your new mortgage from the new lender for whom we will usually act.
- We will undertake various searches and have a look at the deeds to your property to make sure that there are no issues with your property that could affect the interests of the new mortgagee. We may need to ask that you pay for these searches in advance.
- Once we have received your mortgage offer from the new lender, we will check to make sure that it is satisfactory given your intentions.
- Once we have checked the title and checked the mortgage, we will ask you to sign the mortgage deed.
- After the paperwork has been signed, the mortgage or remortgage can be completed. If it is a remortgage, we will pay off your previous mortgage from the funds received from your new mortgage and forward any balance to you (or request that you pay a balance to us if you are reducing the amount of your mortgage). If there is a sum due from you this must be paid, together with any Land Registry fee, before completion of the remortgage takes place. If it is a mortgage, we will simply send the balance of funds to you.
Our Charges
At Janet Sinden & Co we don’t believe in hiding our prices. We believe firmly in allowing clients to judge value for money and as such we make sure that we are transparent regarding our fees at all times. You can be sure that, when instructing us, there will be no hidden surprises.
For more information about our fees and anticipated disbursements please go to the Conveyancing Charges. Also, we will always make totally clear how our charges and disbursements in our cost quotation that we will supply to you at the outset of the matter.
How Long Will It Take?
How long your mortgage or remortgage takes will depend on several factors including the property itself and how quickly the mortgage provider is able to process the matter. Rest assured that we will always try and make sure that your transaction takes no longer than is absolutely necessary.
On average a remortgage takes roughly 3 to 6 weeks.
To ensure your transaction proceeds as quickly as possible we will always chase up the progress of your transaction and will not simply wait for something to happen. However, just because the transaction is not moving forwards does not mean that it is us that is holding it up.
Who Will carry out the Work?
Your mortgage or remortgage will be carried out by members of the Janet Sinden & Co property team. The team has many years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to mortgages and remortgages.
We have a number of Conveyancers who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Christopher Bean (Partner) and Debbie Stanley (Licenced Conveyancer). Full details of each will be found in the Meet the Team section of this website.