I was notified today by my broker that my Nefyn solicitor is not on the lender Solicitor panel. What can I do to be certain if this is indeed the case?

You need to call your Nefyn conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to inform you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Nefyn conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.

I have been told that property searches are a common reason for obstruction in Nefyn conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Nefyn.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Nefyn I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Nefyn for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Do I need to be wary by third parties that I am dealing with are recommending a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Nefyn conveyancing firm?

As with lots of professional services, often recommendations from connections can be very helpful. Yet there are many people with a vested interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all put forward lawyers to retain. On occasion these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to appoint your preferred lawyer. You need to be aware that the majority of lenders specify a panel list of law firms you are obliged to use for the mortgage aspect of your home move.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Nefyn. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as you normally would because all ground rent and maintenance charges will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Nefyn Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the apartment? Can you inform me if there are any major works on the horizon that will increase the service charges? Make sure you investigate if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Nefyn. If you like the flatin Nefyn however your cat can’t make the move with you then you have a very hard compromise.