I was referred a conveyancer who has sent a quote for just over a thousand pound for no sale no fee conveyancing in Freshwater. I am hoping to sell a purpose built house for £250,000. Is this over the top? Is it above what I should be paying for conveyancing in Freshwater?

The estimate does seem a tad overpriced. If you are prepared to spend time scrutinising quotes you may be able to decrease the fees slightly by perhaps £125. On the other hand, you maylive to regret choosing an an untested conveyancer. If is important to check that the firm can represent your lender. Do use our search tool to find a Freshwater conveyancing practice on the banks conveyancing panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Freshwater.

Are the Freshwater conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Barclays conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Barclays?

Freshwater conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Barclays directly.

I have been advised by my conveyancer that defective lease insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Freshwater conveyancing?

The right level of defective lease indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between HSBC Bank and Barnsley Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Freshwater. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £200. A couple of days later, the conveyancer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.

I have instructed a Freshwater solicitor having made sure that they are on the Principality conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Principality will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Principality will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Freshwater surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Freshwater I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Freshwater for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

Is there a reason that Freshwater conveyancing costs differ for leasehold and freehold properties?

Inevitably there is increased work needed for leasehold conveyancing. Freshwater has many leasehold properties. There is more time involved in the purchase: for example, the lease and leasehold information (including up to date service charge, ground rent and buildings insurance details) obtained from the freeholder or managing agents. There are strict criteria that the lease must meet in order to be acceptable to a mortgage company. If it does not meet these requirements, the lease must be amended, which can involve additional expense for the seller.