I am acquiring a house for cash in Greystones. I have been residing for the last dozen years in Greystones. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. As I know the area and road very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a home loan, then almost all of the Greystones conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your conveyancer will try and sway you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to take that path of guidance. Do consider; if you are going to dispose of the house in the future, it could be of relevance to your prospective purchaser what the searches reveal. There are plenty of instances where premises with no practical issues can still reveal unexpected search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Greystones will provide you some sensible guidance concerning this.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as FTB of a garden flat in Greystones. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my conveyancer? If so, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Greystones?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the seller's lawyers, and once they have received this, you will be called to receive the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.

Is it the case that all Greystones conveyancing solicitors on the RBS conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the RBS approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

Can I be sure that the Greystones conveyancing solicitor on the Santander panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Greystones getting recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always recommend that you speak with the lawyer conducting your conveyancing.

It has been 3 months since my purchase conveyancing in Greystones concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

Is it best to go with a Greystones conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am purchasing? An old friend can handle the legal work but his firm is located 300miles drive away.

The primary upside of using a local Greystones conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to sign documents, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Greystones know how is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and the majority were content that must surpass using an unknown Greystones conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Greystones based.

As a leasehold owner I am liable for a maintenance contribution for my property in Greystones. Due to losing my job and other issues I fell into arrears with remittance. The managing agents agreed a settlement schedule but there is still about £3000 outstanding at the current time.

I now wish to dispose of the property and I am worried this will hold me back if I have to settle the amount due first. Do I have to settle before - is this possible?

You should clarify with the conveyancing practitioner conducting your Greystones conveyancing but it may be possible to arrange for the arrears to be attributed to the buyers. The contractual price due would be adjusted to reflect the amount of debt they take on. They could then discharge the fees once they are the owners.