Gazundering could be more of a problem on my home turf in Liverpool. One of the areas least affected by gazumping in the survey, Liverpool has areas where there is little demand for property which could lead to buyers trying to get a price reduction just before exchange of contracts.
Both of these tactics can put the property transaction in jeopardy, so in a market where either is rife the need for bridging loans will never be far away! When property chains break down, for some buyers there is no alternative but to secure bridging finance and press on with their move. And as the property market is so regionalised at the moment with areas of high demand and a quick turn-over of properties, fertile conditions for gazumping, whilst in other areas demand is weak and properties can take a long time to sell then buyers who are relocating may have planned to secure bridging finance from the outset.
Whatever the circumstances that gave rise to the bridging loan, once a bridging transaction is underway speed is of the essence. Added to that bridging transactions are complex so it’s important to have the experts on your side if your client is gazumped and takes up a bridging loan. The underwriting requirements and risks inherent in these transactions are fundamentally different to other conveyancing transactions and specialist staff who understand these particularities are better placed to help the transaction to proceed speedily and smoothly.
One way of potentially speeding up bridging transactions further is to adopt joint representation. Whilst not appropriate in every case; where it is used this service, pioneered by my own firm working with Precise, has been shown to accelerate the completion process and reduce costs whilst also removing stress for the borrower by overcoming their need to deal with multiple firms of lawyers.
An expert conveyancing firm is also far more likely to offer a quality service. This is vital in bridging transactions as any mistakes could impede the progress of the case or, because of the time critical nature of bridging, delays caused by mistakes could mean the transaction falls through completely. Firms who hold the Law Society’s prestigious Conveyancing Quality Scheme have been accredited for the quality of their service. Similarly any firm holding the ISO 9001 accreditation have passed the rigorous service audits carried out under that scheme. Both of these accreditations give assurance about the quality of service the law firm can provide.
Choose your conveyancer carefully – after all if your client has been gazumped or gazundered the last thing they want is for their bridging transaction to fall through. Bring in the experts!
