Sun, Sea, Sand And Second Homes: How To Ensure You Don’t Lose Out

For many years, Salcombe has been the preferred destination for wealthy second homeowners. It won the nickname of “Chelsea at sea”. As a result, house prices have soared. The South Hams District Council has tried to impose planning restrictions in the past to prevent new houses from being used for purposes other than the primary residence. Since these restrictions are often ignored and the complexity of current international travel makes Salcombe a key choice for people seeking domestic coastal resorts, plans are underway to strengthen these planning restrictions. Therefore, the clock is ticking for second-home buyers to rush to buy their own piece of the Southwest. Read more to know about Sun, Sea, Sand And Second Homes: How To Ensure You Don’t Lose Out

Choose dream vacation homes

Whether buyers are looking for a home on the seashore or in inland areas far from the noise of cities and towns, they should consider guiding a purchasing agent who knows the area and can identify the key characteristics, both on and off the market.

The purchasing agent will be able to watch on behalf of customers. This is a great advantage for buyers who don’t have time to travel long distances to the coast for viewing. They will also manage the entire acquisition process, from negotiating prices and terms with sales agents to recommending lawyers and surveyors who know the area.

Acquisition financing

After the recent SDLT holiday, many banks are still processing the substantial backlog of mortgage applications. Many buyers still hope to rush to buy real estate before the end of the holiday on September 30, 2021. It is important that buyers relying on mortgage financing must make timely arrangements to avoid losses.

Discussions with private bankers and mortgage brokers should take place as soon as possible. So that there is sufficient time to complete any internal management or customer induction. This will avoid any unnecessary delay after the discovery of the property.

For cash buyers, it is important to ensure easy access to funds. Also, make all necessary arrangements to transfer funds to the buyer’s lawyer upon request.

Appoint advisers you trust

Buyers should ensure that they have a trusted team of consultants. Consultants who can start the purchase process, once they find the property. In particular, they should consider appointing lawyers before they start the search. This is to ensure that any client Onboarding is handled in advance. So that the work can start and submit the search once an agreement has been reached.

A good communicative and efficient lawyer will be very valuable and will have the ability to work within the time frame expected by the buyer. Lawyers can also conduct preliminary due diligence before quotation to check whether there are obvious danger signals, such as unauthorized reconstruction and restrictions on the buyer’s intended use of the property (such as continuous occupation planning conditions); And check for Title defects.

It is also important to appoint an experienced surveyor who knows the local situation and can advise the buyer on potential repair and maintenance problems.

Search or compensation?

During the SDLT holiday, local authorities have been under great pressure to deal with the search. This is unlikely to cease for the South Hams District Council because there may be a large number of second-home buyers. This leads to a much longer processing time for local authorities to search than usual. This may delay the exchange and put unnecessary pressure on the transaction in some cases.

If time matters, it is always worth considering whether compensation insurance in lieu can use instead of search. If so, whether it is appropriate. The purpose of indemnity insurance is to provide financial compensation when it is found that the property is affected by adverse items that may be revealed by the search of local authorities, and may attract customers who can take a more relaxed view of their due diligence

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