Buying from/selling to family members - can fees be reduced?

Wombohead

Hi all,

We're in a strange situation where we're part of a chain that involves family members at both ends - a family member is buying our property, and we're purchasing from a different family member. As we're quite close to and trust all involved, we were wondering whether this could reduce any solicitor fees that will have to be paid, specifically involving the handling and transfer of money?

For example, will the family member purchasing our property just be able to hand us a cheque for the purchase, which we can then use to pay off our current mortgage without going through a solicitor? (Obviously they will still need to be used for changing title deeds).

Another question - is it possible for us to inherit the mortgage currently held on the property that we are purchasing (currently held by my brother-in-law) to avoid having to pay set up fees for a new mortgage?

All properties involved are based in Scotland.

kingstreet

No. If there are mortgage lenders involved, there's no corner-cutting, or fee saving possible. The money will need to be paid to a solicitor for him to redeem the mortgage and clear the charge so unencumbered title can be given to the purchaser and so on.

You can't "inherit" a mortgage either. It is a charge over a property drawn up between mortgagor and mortgagee. It has to be released by repayment of the attaching loan, as mentioned.