I was recommended to a solicitor who has sent a quote for £995 for freehold conveyancing in Charmouth. I am hoping to downsize from a Georgian house for £250,000. This appears overpriced. Is it above the norm for conveyancing in Charmouth?

The charges are a bit high. If you shop around you might reduce the fees marginally by say £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, you maycome to rue opting for an an untested solicitor. Remember to enquire the solicitor can represent your bank. You can employ our comparison tool to find a Charmouth conveyancing company on the banks approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Charmouth.

I am planning to acquire a property and require a conveyancing solicitor in Charmouth who is on the conveyancing. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for in certain locations such as Charmouth. We dont recommend any particular firm.

There are plenty of conveyancing solicitors in Charmouth but how do I know who's good?

It would be unwise to be swayed by the lowest Charmouth conveyancing costs illustration. 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.

I am the sole beneficiary of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Charmouth. The Charmouth property was put into my name in . I now wish to sell up. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in . Is the property unsalable for six months?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. Some mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this requirement primarily exists to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.

Can I be sure that the Charmouth conveyancing solicitor on the panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Charmouth getting recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the solicitor carrying out your conveyancing.

Should my lawyer be making enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Charmouth.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers conducting conveyancing in Charmouth. Plenty of people will buy a property in Charmouth, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.

Lawyers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that may be undertaken by the buyer or by their lawyers which should figure out the risks in Charmouth. The standard information sent to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard inquiry of the vendor to determine if the premises has ever been flooded. If the residence has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser could bring a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s solicitors will also conduct an environmental search. This should higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries will need to be conducted.

I purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Charmouth. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. Is it worth asking to clarify?

You should assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Charmouth and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.