Q. What do we do if we want to proceed with the estimate?

A. You can either instruct us by completing the instruction form on this site or by telephoning our office where a member of staff will gladly take the relevant details over the telephone. The relevant paperwork for your completion can then either be emailed or posted to you.

Q. Do we have to make an appointment to instruct you?

A. No, this can be dealt with by either completing the on-line instruction form or by telephoning our office. Alternatively, if you prefer to instruct us in person, please call into our office during our opening hours, which are Monday to Friday 9:00am to 1:00pm and 2:00pm to 5:00pm.

Q. Do we have to pay any fees up front?

A. We request an initial payment of £100.00 for a Sale or Transfer of Equity, and £500.00 for a Purchase, Re-mortgage, or combined Sale and Purchase to cover the initial search fees. The balance of our charges and disbursements will be payable by the completion date.

Q. Is there a fee payable if the transaction falls through?

A. Yes. The amount charged will depend upon how much work has been carried out on the transaction up to the time it falls through. In addition, any fees already paid out for initial searches will be lost.

Q. Do you offer a no sale, no fee?

A. No. The firm’s that offer this generally charge higher fees in the first instance to cover their costs for offering this.

Q. Do we have to attend at the office on any occasion?

A. No.  We send all documents out for signing by post.  However, if you prefer to attend our office for signing those documents then you are welcome to do that by prior appointment. 

Q. Can searches or the transaction be expedited?

A. We pride ourselves on the fact that we generally endeavour to deal with correspondence on the day of receipt but certainly within 2-3 working days of receipt. Some local authorities will expedite searches upon payment of an additional fee. Please bear in mind that in any transaction involving either a sale or purchase, it is not just down to how quickly we deal with matters as we have to rely upon another party and their conveyancer and if they do not deal with matters quickly then this can slow down the whole process.

Q. How long does a transaction take?

A. Most sale and purchase transactions can take between 8 – 12 weeks from start to finish but that will depend on the length of the chain and how quickly the other party and their lawyers deal with matters. Each transaction is different however and some transactions do complete much quicker and others take longer.

Most Re-mortgages and Transfer of Equity transactions can be completed within 4 weeks from being instructed but that will depend on how quickly the mortgage lender issues a mortgage offer or consent to transfer.

Q. Can you act for both parties?

A. Yes, provided at the outset we do not consider that a conflict of interest arises or is likely to arise and provided both parties consent. We do however prefer not to act for both parties unless both parties are long established existing clients because if during the transaction a conflict of interest was to arise we would have to cease to act for both parties which could then cause inconvenience.  Each party would be represented by a different qualified Conveyancer within the firm.

Q. How do we prove our identification to you?

A. We currently use a company called Thirdfort who carry out electronic identification checks on our behalf.  This helps us to ensure that we are not provided with any fraudulent identification documents.  Further details will be provided to you should you instruct us to act on your behalf.

Q. We have already provided proof of funds to the estate agent so why do we need to provide it to you also?

A. We have to comply with money laundering regulations and as part of our service therefore we are required to check your proof of funds and our checks will be much more detailed that the checks carried out by the estate agent.

Q. How do we provide proof of funds to you for our deposit?

A. We are required to not only check that you have funds to cover your deposit but we also have to check how those funds have accrued.  We prefer you to provide evidence of your funds via the Thirdfort app when you do the identification checks but sometimes we have to request additional documents and information from you which you can then provide to us outside of the Thirdfort app.