I am in a contract race with another buyer for a property in Watford. What can I do to expedite matters?

Where you are under a tight deadline for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your solicitor is familiar with the location as they will have local contacts and intelligence. It is even conceivable that they could have conducted previoushomes in the same street. Therefore consider using a Watford conveyancing solicitor. In addition, check that the lawyer is on the member panel. It is claimed that 18% of Watford conveyancing transactions are delayed or jeopardised after finding out that a purchaser’s solicitor was not on their mortgage lender’s list of approved solicitors. This can often result in the home move being frustrated by almost 21 days. It is believed that this issue affects approximately 100,000 home sales every year. Many Watford conveyancing practices can not act for certain mortgage companies so do check as early as possible.

I am expecting a DIP from Co-operative this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Co-operative recommend any Watford solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?

You will need to appoint Watford solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Co-operative through the process.

The mortgage over my property is with Bank of Ireland for my property in Watford. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?

You must advise Bank of Ireland before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Bank of Ireland will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. You need not do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Watford. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £150. A couple of days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Principality conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Principality panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Will my solicitor be asking questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Watford.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Watford. Some people will buy a property in Watford, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Lawyers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various checks that can be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Watford. The conventional set of information sent to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard inquiry of the seller to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer could commence a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate answer. A purchaser’s lawyers should also conduct an environmental report. This will higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be carried out.

Should I go with a Watford conveyancing lawyer based in the vicinity that I am buying? I have an old university friend who can execute the conveyancing but his firm is located 400kilometers away.

The primary upside of using a high street Watford conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and on the whole were content that should trump using an unfamiliar Watford conveyancing solicitor just because they are Watford based.

I am buying a ground floor apartment in Watford. Conveyancing lawyer is awaiting, from the vendor, building insurance documents. I was told today I was advised that the seller needs to send the insurance documents for the flat above in addition. Why would my conveyancer need to see the insurance for the other flat? Is it strictly required? We have been in hold for the last month…

It is not unheard of in leasehold conveyancing in Watford to find Conveyancing in Watford in a minority of cases reveals that the lease requires the tenant's to insure their individual flats rather than the freeholder insuring the whole premises - which is clearly preferable. Do contact your conveyancing practitioner but it would seem that your property lawyer is seeking to establish that the entire building is insured. Insuring a ground floor apartment is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the other flat cannot be rebuilt as a result of lack of insurance.