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DIY Conveyancing for a Purchase at Auction

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  • Degenerate
    Degenerate Posts: 2,166 Forumite
    Just a thought:

    If a new office copy entry was obtained after the auction but before completion, surely any new charges etc would constitute misrepresentation in the auction legal pack, and could therefore be used to invalidate the contract?

    I ask because I gather the online service cannot be used to obtain "official" copies, so I won't be able to get a new one in time.

    poppysarah wrote: »
    Apart from the most important one of all.
    You.

    True, but I'm not going to be suing myself for damages down the line.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Regular posters will know I am frequently an advocate of DIY conveyancing - when the circumstances are right and where the individual is capable.

    However I have grave concerns here.

    The issues being raised, and knowledge gaps being exposed, indicate that a far more compehensive understanding is required if you are to DIY.

    I suggested in an earlier post:
    If you are serious about doing the conveyancing yourself, don't rely on a few haphazard questions asked on an internet forum.

    Find out what's involved, what the various searches/checks etc do and mean, and make sure you cover off all the potential pitfalls.... not just the ones that happen to occur to you.
    and I re-iterate this.

    Taxiphil suggested:
    I'd say do it yourself, but just to be extra sure you're ticking all the boxes, you won't go far wrong spending 8 quid on Joseph Bradshaw's book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1906971803
    which is good advice. JB's is not the only book on the subject, but you must improve your understanding of what needs doing, when, why and how.
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 26,234 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    My information is rather out of date, as I stopped doing my own conveyancing about 15 years ago. It was quite time-consuming, and a solicitor who is dealing with this sort of thing all the time can do it far more quickly.

    When I was doing it, office copy entries of the register were what was needed, and these gave protection for a number of weeks. Since that time, the land registry has gone paperless, so I expect that there is some Internet search that is the equivalent of the office copy.

    Really, unless you know all about this sort of thing, perhaps from reading a book about do-it-yourself conveyancing, you ought not to dabble. It is one thing to say that you can save the fees by doing it yourself from a position of knowledge, but it is simply foolhardy to proceed without having a clue what you are supposed to be doing. From the questions you raised, you seem to have a good idea about the auction process, and you have clearly read the paperwork relating to this lot, but you seem to have no idea at all about the conveyancing process.

    As you said, the chances are that this particular lot is straightforward and you will get away with it, but I am not sure that you deserve to!
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • Trollfever
    Trollfever Posts: 2,051 Forumite
    IMO a false economy.
    Issues can come to light when you come to sell the property and the buyer needs to obtain a mortgage on it.
  • Catti
    Catti Posts: 372 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    I would actually add a comment to specifically say that you should not do a priority search UNLESS you succeed at auction. Just apply for new copies of the register.

    If you apply for a priority search, YOU will have priority for a number of weeks. That will cause problems for any other successful bidder who suddenly finds he can't register his title until after that priority has expired.
  • I would actually add a comment to specifically say that you should not do a priority search UNLESS you succeed at auction. Just apply for new copies of the register.

    If you apply for a priority search, YOU will have priority for a number of weeks. That will cause problems for any other successful bidder who suddenly finds he can't register his title until after that priority has expired.

    I agree, you mess things up for the successful bidder. You really don't need to do it until after the contract has been made.
    RICHARD WEBSTER

    As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.
  • Flat_Eric
    Flat_Eric Posts: 4,068 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Catti wrote: »
    I would actually add a comment to specifically say that you should not do a priority search UNLESS you succeed at auction. Just apply for new copies of the register.

    If you apply for a priority search, YOU will have priority for a number of weeks. That will cause problems for any other successful bidder who suddenly finds he can't register his title until after that priority has expired.

    Priority searches can be cancelled by writing to the relevant Land Registry. They are very helpful bods :T
  • Degenerate
    Degenerate Posts: 2,166 Forumite
    G_M wrote: »
    Regular posters will know I am frequently an advocate of DIY conveyancing - when the circumstances are right and where the individual is capable.

    However I have grave concerns here.

    The issues being raised, and knowledge gaps being exposed, indicate that a far more compehensive understanding is required if you are to DIY.

    And what am I doing here if not seeking to improve my knowledge?

    You seem a bit vague about what my knowledge gaps are though. Indeed, the advice that Catti gave me (in a post you thanked!), which was backed up by a professional conveyancer seems to indicate that I was right to rely on the auction pack OCE rather than get my own pre-auction.

    I bought the book. I don't know why some of you are talking as if I was refusing to. Reading it so far it seems to indicate that my assumptions about the simplicity of this transaction are correct.

    This discussion is academic for the moment, BTW. Some idiots got into a bidding war and ended up paying way over the odds! £142K for a house that would realistically be worth £160K on the open market after a total renovation that would cost much more than £18K. Seemed like a case of auction fever! I was prepared to bid up to £110K, I could see it still being worthwhile for some up to £120K-ish.
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