The sellers of the house we are looking to purchase hired a conveyancing firm in East Bedfont who has recommended a preliminary agreement with a down payment of 5k. Are such agreements appropriate for East Bedfont conveyancing transactions?

Lock out agreements are agreements binding a home owner and purchaser granting the buyer exclusive rights to purchase the premises for a limited period of time. Essentially, a lock out agreement is a contract specifying that you should have a contract at a later date which is the contract for the actual sale. It tends to be utilised for buyer assurance though in some cases, the seller may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are many pros and cons to having an agreement but you need to check with your lawyer but beware that it may result in costing you extra in conveyancing charges. In light of this these agreements are not popular in relation to conveyancing in East Bedfont.

We are selling our house in East Bedfont and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any high street East Bedfont lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed a web based conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in East Bedfont. We have lived in East Bedfont for 5 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get clarification that the buyers are looking for.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)

I have justfound out that Action Conveyancing have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in East Bedfont for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 12 months ago. How can I check that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest way to check if the property is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of East Bedfont conveyancing specialists.

We're first time buyers - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent advised that the seller will only go ahead if we instruct the agent's recommended lawyers as they need a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in East Bedfont

We suspect that the owner is not behind this demand. If they want ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious purchaser is counter productive. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and make the point that (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to appoint your own,trusted East Bedfont conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn their estate agent a kickback or achieve conveyancing targets set by corporate headquarters.

Why do East Bedfont conveyancing fees differ for leasehold and freehold properties?

When acquiring a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control