Yes, you will get a full breakdown of the conveyancing charges right at the beginning. We have a range of conveyancing services available at a flexible price. But, our quote for conveyancing is fixed, which is clearly mentioned at the very beginning of the transaction. Hence, there are no surprises waiting for you anywhere between the process. 

Our quote for normal conveyancing transaction is comprised of:

• Our conveyancing services fee

• Disbursements and other additional costs, such as Land Registry Fee / Land Registry Searches / Stamp Duty Land Tax Form / Electronic Money Transfer Fee

• Stamp Duty while purchasing a property

If there is any unexpected increase in our fee due to unforeseen circumstances, solicitors will engage with you to explain why you need to pay additional charges.

Usually, time is determined by the unique situation and the factors surrounding the purchase of the property. We accomplish our task within two months. But as earlier stated, it is mostly dependent on the unique issue. Delays are usually caused by the transfer of money, late signing and returning of legal documents, and incorrect information in the forms, just to mention a few. We advise looking at the matters above, but we’ll also have a look at them.

The price of your conveyancing services depends on the value of your property and the type of transaction you are completing, such as whether you want to buy, sell, or mortgage property. However, these are some of the charges that the fee structure will include:

• Fee of the solicitors
• Fee of Surveyor
• Fee of the Lender
• Stamp Duty Land Tax (in England) or Land Transaction Tax (in Wales)
• Fee for Land Registry
• Fee for Local Authority Searches
• Fee for electronic bank transfer
• Fee of management pack for leasehold properties
• Cos of estate agent
• Cost of removal
• VAT

We don’t charge any advance fee. Hence you don’t need to pay in the initial stage of the transaction. You would have to cover disbursements and other fees that crop up during the transaction, such as searches for the property you want to buy. The final conveyancing payment is required at the exchange of contracts or at the completion of the sale. We will clarify the timings during our initial conversations.

We realize that the risk involved in keeping the ownership documents safe, especially when conveyancing fraud and hacking is on the rise. Our systems are updated regularly to prevent cyber-attacks and also have an additional IT team as a stand-by to look after these matters. We ask for information or payments from you via email or other web application, which encrypts the data and minimizes the risk of the data breach. We always confirm our account details by phone or in person before you make an online transaction. Other than that, all the direct conversations are kept private.

Many environmental factors can impact your property and it is not limited to contaminants like chemical or mineral pollutants only. The contamination also includes the proposed installation of mobile masts or the closeness of electricity pylons.

If the property is built on former industrial or agricultural land, the investigation will consider any known pollution that may exist in the topsoil or in the nearby region. Every possible environmental factor that may impact the property will be considered as part of the environmental searches. The conveyancer’s report on the title for the property will include all these details after an in-depth investigation.

You would need a licensed conveyancer for a property transaction, especially if you are buying with a mortgage. Your mortgage company will insist on having a conveyancer lawyer to carry out the process. If you are using your own money to buy the property, you would need assistance in handling the legalities involved. 

It is difficult for an individual to carry out the process since any minor mistake can lead to huge monetary loss. For example, in the completion form, there are more than seventy questions, and each one has to be answered carefully or else you can attract a penalty.

Other than that, the Land Registry may also refuse to accept information from you without verification.

It is not mandatory to have the searches, but we suggest you go for it. This is because, if you are purchasing with a mortgage, your mortgage company will push you to get it done. In case you do not agree, they will refuse to lend you the money. Even if you are going for a mortgage, searches will help you ensure that you are buying the right property without any dispute at the right price.  

Conveyancing is a long process that comprises several steps. In brief, there are basically the following steps:

• The buyer’s conveyancer obtains all the required information on the property. It includes all kinds of searches, making inquiries to the seller’s conveyancer, liaising with the Land Registry and the mortgage company.
• Once the conveyancer of the buyer is certain that he has all the needed information, he does all the paperwork, collects all the documents, and creates the contract. Then he reports to the buyer and the mortgage company.
• Conveyancers of both parties, check if all the terms in the contract are as per their discussion. If both buyer and seller agree upon the information in the contracts, then the exchange takes place. A 10% deposit is usually paid by the buyer and the completion date and time are decided. 
• There are some administrative tasks done between the exchange and completion stages.
• On the completion date, the balance purchase price is paid, and the seller transfers the property to the buyer.

There are a number of documents that conveyancer draw in a property transaction, such as 

• The contract, which mentions the terms on which the property is being transferred.
• The report on title, which contains the brief of all the searches and inquiries carried out for the property. 
• The TR1, which is the Land Registry document required to transfer the property from the seller to the buyer.

These conveyancing documents are produced during the course of buying or selling a property for the clients.

Usually, we update via phone or email. Occasionally hard copies could be sent through the post. Our conveyancer will confirm how often they will update you on your transaction. Our conveyancers mostly focus on the transaction themselves rather than endlessly updating you on a process they already feel is going smoothly. If you feel the need to receive frequent updates, you can convey this to your conveyancer directly.