As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Sunderland what’s the number one tip you can give me for the home moving process in Sunderland

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Sunderland and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the legal transfer of property. E.g., the vendor, selling agent and sometimes the mortgage company. Choosing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Sunderland should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose responsibility is to protect your best interests and to keep you safe.

We are witnessing a distinct increase of a "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you should always trust your conveyancer above the other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

Various online forums that I have come across warn that are the main reason for obstruction in Sunderland conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Sunderland.

It has been 4 months since my purchase conveyancing in Sunderland took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am buying a new build house in Sunderland benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my lawyer about this side-deal as it would put at risk my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

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.

Do online conveyancing companies undertake everything a high street Sunderland solicitor does or must I retain a solicitor for the final stages for my conveyancing in Sunderland?

Where you instruct an online conveyancer they should cover all the things your Sunderland solicitor would cover.