As someone not used to conveyancing in Workington what’s the number one tip you can give me concerning the legal transfer of property in Workington

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Workington and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the home moving process. For example, the seller, selling agent and on occasion the bank. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Workington should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the legal process whose interest is to look after your best interests and to keep you safe.

There is a worrying creep in the "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above all other players when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

My wife and I have a terraced Victorian house in Workington. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Workington and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

How does conveyancing in Workington differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in Workington come to us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Workington tend to buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Workington or who has acted in the same development.

I have been recommended by a few selling agents in Workington to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your services rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?

We don’t make any commission for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

Myself and my husband have just had an offer agreed on a house and had meeting on Friday with HSBC for the mortgage. They warned me that when it comes to choosing a conveyancer that unless they are on their approved panel of lawyers then we will be subject to an an additional charge of £250+. This is because they will then have to instruct a property lawyer to act for them in addition to the one we select on our behalf and we are liable for their fees. I have asked HSBC to send me with a list so I can obtain estimates only from their approved solicitors but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is their an easier way of going about this?

You should ask HSBC what their panel criteria is for a solicitor.Thereafter ask the property lawyer of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC in the past. Where the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with HSBC. Alternatively please use our search facility and we may be able to find you a lawyer in Workington on the approved list for HSBC.