I am acquiring a property without a mortgage in Stafford. I have lived for the last twelve years in Stafford. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a home loan, then almost all of the Stafford conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but she is duty bound to do this. Do bear in mind; if you are going to sell the house at a future date, it could be of relevance to your prospective buyer what the searches determine. There are plenty of instances where houses with day to day issues can still throw up adverse search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Stafford will provide you some helpful advice here.

My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Stafford. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Virgin Money, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

Where you plan to re-mortgage then Virgin Money will require that you use a conveyancer on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Virgin Money mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

My partner and I are downsizing from our property in Stafford and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using an internet conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Stafford. We have lived in Stafford for six years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Stafford I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Stafford in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Stafford.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have recently received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you pay the invoice as normal as all rents and maintenance invoices should be apportionedon completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process