The lawyer who helped my last purchase has sent a quote for £995 for freehold conveyancing in Fakenham. I am hoping to sell a modern detached home for £150,000. Is this expensive? Is it above the norm for conveyancing in Fakenham?

The quote is slightly on the expensive side. If you are willing to invest time comparing fee on a like for like basis you may be able to trim some of the expense by as much as a hundred pounds. On the other hand, you maylive to regret opting for an an untested conveyancer. Don't forget to be sure that the firm can act for your mortgage company. Do use our comparison tool to select a Fakenham conveyancing company on the banks approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Fakenham.

As someone not used to conveyancing in Fakenham what is your top tip you can impart concerning the legal transfer of property in Fakenham

Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Fakenham and elsewhere in Norfolk is often a confrontational experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. E.g., the vendor, estate agent and even potentially the bank. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Fakenham is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose role it is to look after your best interests and to keep you safe.

There is a distinct increase in the "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

The Fakenham conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Fakenham have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I needed a solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and my preferred Fakenham lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to help.

Is it correct that all Fakenham CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Barclays conveyancing list of approved solicitors?

A selection of banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their approved list of firms.

When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Fakenham solicitors have to pay a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Fakenham. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £200. A few days later, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Principality 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 Principality 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.

I have justbeen informed that Wolstenholmes have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Fakenham for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 12 months ago. How can I establish that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Fakenham conveyancing specialists.