As someone clueless as to the Penrith conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can impart concerning the legal transfer of property in Penrith

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Penrith and elsewhere in Cumbria is often a confrontational process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the transaction. For instance, the seller, estate agent and sometimes the lender. Appointing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Penrith should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

Every so often a third party with a vested interest will attempt to persuade you that you should follow their advice. For example, the estate agent may claim to be helping by claiming that your solicitor is dragging his heels. Or your mortgage broker may tell you to do take action that is contrary to your conveyancers recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the home moving process.

I am selling my apartment in Penrith. Does my solicitor need to be required to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Leeds Building Society 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 in recent years.

What can a local search tell me about the property my wife and I buying in Penrith?

Penrith conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Searches UK The local search plays a central role in many a Penrith conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your new home. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic areas.

I have justbeen informed that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Penrith for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I check that the property is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?

The easiest method to see 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 Penrith conveyancing specialists.

We're new on the property ladder - had an offer accepted, but the property agent informed us that the seller will only go ahead if we use the agent's preferred conveyancers as they need a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a high street conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Penrith

We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious buyer is counter productive. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to instruct your preferred Penrith conveyancing firm - as opposed tothe ones that will give their estate agent a kickback or hit his conveyancing thresholds demanded by HQ.