When to appoint conveyancer

scrivomcdivo

We recently applied for a mortgage in principal which was successful and subsequently placed an offer on a property which was accepted. The estate agents are now putting pressure on us to appoint a conveyancer as soon as possible. Nonetheless, we still have to return back to HSBC tomorrow to finalise the mortgage paperwork and confirm the offer and then we need to get a survey carried out before potentially renegotiating with the vendor on anything picked up on the survey.

I believe that we should only appoint a conveyancer once we have a) finalised the mortgage offer and signed the paperwork and b) the survey has been carried out any any issues addressed / negotiated. Is this correct? I just don't want to appoint a conveyancer only for there to be a problem with the aforementioned which results in the purchase being cancelled and us having to pay the conveyancer for the work already done by them. I just don't want to give in to any pressure from the estate agent.

Thanks

PS: I appreciate this isn't directly a financial issue although it kinda is so I don't lose money on the purchase falling through

Thrugelmir

You should have a solicitor ready to act on your behalf. Until you have a mortgage offer then little work will be done. Your lender will also need to approve the solicitor as they work on their behalf as well.

opinions4u

You won't get a mortgage offer without a solicitor being in place.

Decide who you are going to use. Tell them and instruct them to do nothing that incurs cost until such time as you advise them otherwise.

That time will be either:

a) Before valuation because you need them to move fast or
b) After valuation, once you're happy with the content of the report