I am purchasing a property for cash in Colliers Wood. I have lived for the last 15 years in Colliers Wood. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. Given that I know the road and vicinity very well should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a home loan, then almost all of the Colliers Wood conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your lawyer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to consider; if you are intend to sell the house at a future date, it may be of interest to your prospective purchaser what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where premises with functional issues can still throw up unfavourable search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Colliers Wood will provide you some helpful advice here.

It is a dozen years since I purchased my home in Colliers Wood. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find the title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?

Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be retained by your mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Colliers Wood relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

I am assisting my mother sell her house in Colliers Wood. Will the solicitor order an energy assessment or should I organise this?

Following the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments remained a required component of moving property. An energy assessment must be to hand before the property is advertised. It is not a task that lawyers ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Colliers Wood conveyancing solicitor they may be willing to arrange EPC’s given their relationships with long established Colliers Wood accredited person

My partner and I are at the point of viewing apartments in Colliers Wood and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I am planning to take a mortgage with Barclays.

You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with Barclays, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Colliers Wood. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £150. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the TSB 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 TSB 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.

Am I better off to use a Colliers Wood conveyancing solicitor based in the location that I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can execute the legal formalities however her office is a couple of hundredmiles away.

The benefit of a local Colliers Wood conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to sign documents, deliver your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a benefit. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were impressed that should outweigh using an unknown Colliers Wood conveyancing lawyer just because they are round the corner.

Are all Colliers Wood property lawyers on every lender conveyancing panel?

The Lexsure search tool on this page may be of use or you can drop into your local lender branch in Colliers Wood. the probability is that they can recommend conveyancing solicitors in Colliers Wood