What is the first thing I need to know concerning purchase conveyancing in Sturminster Newton?

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Sturminster Newton and elsewhere in Dorset is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for friction between you and others involved in the home moving process. For instance, the vendor, estate agent and sometimes a lender. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Sturminster Newton is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose interest is to act in your best interests and to protect you.

Every so often a third party with a vested interest will attempt to sway you that you should follow their advice. For example, the property agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your conveyancer is wrong. Or your mortgage broker may tell you to do take action that is against your lawyers recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

I am selling my home in Sturminster Newton. Will the solicitor need to be required 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 panel criteria fairly frequently in recent years.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home are lost. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Sturminster Newton 4 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?

Assuming the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be retained by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, find your house and obtain current copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally retain a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.

I am purchasing my first flat in Sturminster Newton with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it could affect my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

We're FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the agent informed us that the vendor will only issue a contract if we instruct their chosen lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Sturminster Newton

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this requirement. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Contact the owners directly and explain that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you are going to appoint your own,trusted Sturminster Newton conveyancing firm - rather thanthose that will give the estate agent a kickback or hit his conveyancing figures set by HQ.