Much to our surprise we have been advised by our estate agent that my Harwich solicitor is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. How can I be certain that this is indeed the case?

Your first step should be to call your Harwich conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to inform you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Harwich conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.

My wife and I are buying a house in Harwich. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we have to send money into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?

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.

Do I find a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Harwich?

There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Harwich and Solicitor practices in Harwich who can help with your conveyancing It is important to make clear that both are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal aspects of the home buying process. The two can handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Harwich. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A few days later, the property lawyer called me to say 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 require expedited conveyancing in Harwich as I am faced with a deadline to exchange contracts inside one month. Thankfully I do not require a mortgage. Is it possible to decline from having conveyancing searches to save fees and time?

As you are are a mortgage free buyer you have the choice not to have searches carried out although no lawyer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Harwich the following are examples of issues that can show up and adversely impact future mortgageability: Enforcement Actions, Overdue Charges, Overdue Grants, Road Schemes,...

I am buying my first flat in Harwich with a loan from Alliance & Leicester . The sellers would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not to tell my conveyancer about this side-deal as it would jeopardize my mortgage 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.

Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Harwich prior to appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some banks tend refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Harwich. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.