Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Cookham?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Cookham your solicitor will ask you place them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is needed to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the down payment is as part of the sale price then this will be required shortly prior to exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.

My home in Cookham is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will my lawyer need to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Skipton conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently currently.

Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Bank of Ireland. Cookham conveyancing practitioners were appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Bank of Ireland?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Bank of Ireland completed the survey? Have you informed Bank of Ireland as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

My husband and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Cookham and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it sensible to have a lawyer on ‘stand by’? I will be getting a mortgage with Leeds Building Society.

It would be advisable to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.

The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Cookham. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

How does conveyancing in Cookham differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Cookham approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because house builders in Cookham typically purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Cookham or who has acted in the same development.

How do I search for a Cookham conveyancing solicitor on the lender conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25miles to meet the solicitor.

Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search on this website. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Cookham and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Cookham. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.