Ludlow Engineering and Land Survey

What is an ALTA survey?

ALTA stands for American Land Title Association. The ALTA is a group that represents the land title and title insurance industry. In addition to ALTA, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) also accepts and conforms to ALTA survey conventions. An ALTA survey is a survey done in such a way that it conforms to ALTA standards. The good thing about this is that most surveyors know and understand this format – so once you get used to reading an ALTA survey you will be able to do it over and over again on subsequent transactions.

What does an ALTA survey contain?

Like any survey, an ALTA survey shows the physical characteristics of the property you are purchasing. The first thing an ALTA survey will give you is a description of the metes and bounds of the property. In other words, the survey will give you the actual description (longitude and latitude) of the property boundaries. Most buyers perform their own survey for due diligence to ensure that the property they are purchasing is the size they thought it was.

An ALTA survey also shows improvements on the property, rights of way on the property, as well as any easements granted by previous property owners. For land that you are considering developing, this is incredibly important. If you have an easement granted to the power company that goes straight through the middle of the property, it may be difficult, or impossible, to develop.

ALTA Survey and Title Insurance

An ALTA Survey and Title Insurance go hand in hand. You need to have a current title commitment before you can complete and ALTA survey. This initial title commitment will provide the initial description of the property.

The title company, however, will need the ALTA survey to be completed to finalize the transaction. When a land title company provides title insurance to you, they are guaranteeing you that there are not any unknown encumbrances on your property. To make that guarantee effectively the title insurance company

will use a survey to help delineate where the existing encumbrances, improvements, and easements are located.

ALTA is acceptable to lenders

One of the most important things about an ALTA survey is that it is approved by a host of different groups for use in transactions. That means that your financial partner will accept the information from an ALTA survey as accurate and can use it to help them determine the financing you will receive. This convention will save you money so that you do not have to conduct a special survey for each of the parties involved.

OK so you are considering a remortgage and why not? There are plenty of good reasons to consider remortgaging at the moment including benefiting from an all time low interest rate! By remortgaging you may also benefit from freeing up equity, flexible payments and even potential overpayment options. Facilities you may not have on your existing mortgage.

Whilst saving money may be your primary concern when remortgaging, it is important that you consider the costs of the remortgage process as well as the savings you may make in terms of your monthly repayments. Sometimes a great deal may have hidden fees which can make it less appealing. If you are thinking of remortgaging, ensure that you check to see whether any of the following five fees will be payable.

Valuation/Survey Fee: When you apply for a remortgage, one of the first things that a lender will do is to instruct a qualified surveyor to undertake a valuation on your home. The surveyor wants to check that there are no structural issues with your home as well as providing a realistic market valuation of your property.

Surveys are not free unfortunately and their cost can vary from under GBP300 to over GBP1000. This cost i dependent of the type of home and valuation required. Sometimes the lender will meet these costs as part f their remortgage package. Though this may not always be the case under which circumstances you will have to meet the costs. It may be that during a valuation it is found that improvements are required. Once these are completed a second survey is required. It may be that you would also be responsible for these costs.

Fees For Applying For A Remortgage: Mortgage deals, especially ones with low interest rates, usually carry an application fee which lenders charge to pay for the costs of processing the new loan. This can range from GBP100 or GBP200 up to GBP3000 depending on the lender, the deal offered and the state of the market at the time that you apply.

Booking fees are typically payable with your remortgage application and will often be non refundable (if your remortgage application is subsequently declined). Application or arrangement fees can often be added to your new mortgage and are only payable when the remortgage completes.

Costs For Legal Work: Part of the process of obtaining a mortgage is the legal work, which involved land registry (checking the register to ensure you are the legal owners), and various other legal work. The official name for this process is conveyancing which is done by a solicitor, and again sometimes the lender will pay for this is they have an appointed solicitor firm who does the bulk of their conveyancing work. But again, you may have to pay for this yourself which can cost anything up to GBP2000 depending on the firm that you use. Make sure you get plenty of quotes before agreeing to a price.

Mortgage Broker Fees: Using a mortgage broker, as many people do, has its benefits. They can often find you great rates and great products as they often have access to a wide range of deals. They can also help with the paperwork involved during the application process. Mortgage brokers in the main though will charge for these services and these charges should be taken into account.

Early Repayment Penalties: If you are still within the first few years of a fixed rate mortgage, you may have to pay an early repayment charge. If you are unsure just ask your current lender if there is any charge.

So if you are currently with a lender and reaping the rewards of a discounted or fixed rate deal, your lender might impose early repayment charges for breaking the terms of that agreement. Even if there are not any penalties for finishing your current mortgage, you may still be charged a sealing fee or other admin expenses..

About the Author:
Howard writes for Just Commercial Mortgages the UK’s No1 site for the latest commercial mortgage rates and commercial property finance news.

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