I am buying a property mortgage free in Wallsend. I have been residing for the last twelve years in Wallsend. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I know the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a mortgage, then almost all of the Wallsend conveyancing searches are optional. Your solicitor will try and steer you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but he has a professional duty to do this. Do take into account; if you are going to dispose of the house in the future, it may be of relevance to your future purchaser what the searches reveal. Sometimes premises with day to day issues can still reveal unfavourable search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Wallsend should be able to give you some helpful guidance in this regard.

What is your number one tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Wallsend

It would be unwise to be tempted by the lowest Wallsend conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of time.

When it comes to lenders such as Nationwide, do Wallsend lawyers incur a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

We had appointed solicitors located in Wallsend on the Nationwide solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Nationwide mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Nationwide?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Nationwide but by your Wallsend property lawyer. Numerous firms on the Nationwide panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Wallsend. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Yorkshire Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Wallsend and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I am purchasing a new build house in Wallsend with a loan from National Westminster Bank. The builders would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not to tell my lawyer about the side-deal as it could impact 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.

As co-executor for the estate of my grandfather I am selling a residence in Newport but reside in Wallsend. My lawyer (based 260 miles awayneeds me to execute a stat dec before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Wallsend who can witness and place their company stamp on the document?

strictly speaking you should not be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Wallsend