Just contacted my conveyancing solicitor in Mersea Island who completed the legal work 18 months ago requesting a conveyancing costs illustration based on the same type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold premises and a freehold premises) of almost identical values with a loan from Coventry Building Society. It looks as though am now being quoted twice the amount. Better the devil I know or do I try and find an alternative conveyancer?

The estimate fees appear a little high. Where you are content to spend time contrasting charges you may be able to get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by perhaps £125. That being said, if you were satisfied with the service the firm offered you couldlive to regret choosing an a cheaper solicitor. If is important to enquire the solicitor can represent Coventry Building Society. You can utilise our search tool to select a Mersea Island conveyancing firm on the Coventry Building Society approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Mersea Island.

We are acquiring our first house. Our solicitor has e-mailedto check if we would like to order supplemental conveyancing searches. Frankly we are clueless as to what's appropriate for conveyancing in Mersea Island

The type of Mersea Island conveyancing searches should be dictated entirely on the premises, the location, the likelihood of any of these risks, your familiarity of the region and risks, your general attitude to risk. What matters is that you properly comprehend what information the searches could supply. Then you can decide if you consider that you need that information. Should you be unsure, ask the property lawyer to provide guidance.

It is is a decade since I purchased my property in Mersea Island. Conveyancing lawyers have now been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate the deeds. Is this a major issue?

Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by your lender or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who acted in your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Mersea Island involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.

Should our conveyancer be making enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Mersea Island.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Mersea Island. There are those who buy a house in Mersea Island, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Solicitors are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that may be initiated by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Mersea Island. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual question of the owner to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer could issue a compensation claim stemming from an misleading response. A purchaser’s lawyers may also carry out an enviro search. This will reveal if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be conducted.

I have read on a number of consumer advice websites that before selecting a conveyancing firm they must be approved by your mortgage company. I am new to the process but I have an offer in principle via Birmingham Midhshires and I already have a family conveyancing solicitor in Mersea Island lined up. Does HSBC require an approved lawyer to be instructed? If so, where do I find that list so I can appoint a conveyancing lawyer in Mersea Island?

You should choose a solicitor that is on the HSBC panel. Simply ring your preferred Mersea Island conveyancing lawyer and ask if they are on the HSBC panel. If they are not on the panel you have numerous alternatives open to you here:

• Complete the purchase with your existing Mersea Island lawyer but HSBC will undoubtedly instruct a conveyancing practitioner from their approved list. This will result in additional cost and probable frustration.
• Appoint a fresh lawyer to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
• Convince your property lawyer to pull out all the stops to get listed on the HSBC panel of solicitors.