Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Wimbledon?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Wimbledon your solicitor will ask you place them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is as part of the purchase price then this should be asked for immediately in advance of exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is due should be transferred a few days prior to the day of completion.

My wife and I are purchasing a flat in Wimbledon. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? On completion day we have to deposit funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as Nationwide, do Wimbledon property lawyers face a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Wimbledon. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. A couple of days later, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS 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.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Wimbledon 10 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?

Nowadays there are copies made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will be aware precisely where to look for all the appropriate documentation so you may purchase or sell your property without any difficulty. If duplicates can’t be located, your conveyancer may be able to arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on your property.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Wimbledon with a loan from Virgin Money. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent advised me not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it would impact my mortgage with Virgin Money. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.

Our offer on semi in Wimbledon was agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on a property, but it’s not been accepted yet, and has viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Wimbledon. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Nationwide started with Nationwide?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is an associated chain given your reluctance to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Wimbledon conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you should check that your lawyer is on the Nationwide approved list. Concerning the next phase this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market the majority of home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Nationwide and arrange for the survey and only if it comes back ok would they request their lawyer to move forward with searches.