I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Totteridge. I I am struggling to find out whether they are on the Nationwide Building Society conveyancing panel. Could you advise?

The first thing you should do is phone your solicitor and enquire if they are on the lender panel. Otherwise you can get in touch with Nationwide Building Society who may be able to confirm.

My wife and I are in the process of viewing houses in Totteridge and I am about to put in an offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a home loan with Coventry BS.

You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Coventry BS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Totteridge. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

Our offer on a house in Totteridge has been accepted, the vendors do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The sellers have offered on a property, but it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Totteridge. What should be my next step? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Nottingham?

It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Totteridge conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you should check that your conveyancer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market some buyers would apply for the mortgage with Nottingham and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.

It has been 2 months following my purchase conveyancing in Totteridge took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £180,000. 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 asset 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.

We're new to the buying process - had an offer accepted, yet the estate agent advised that the seller will only issue a contract if we appoint the agent's recommended solicitors as they want an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a family conveyancer who is familiar with conveyancing in Totteridge

It is improbable the owners are driving this. If they require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is counter productive. Speak to the owners direct and make sure they understand (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to use your own,trusted Totteridge conveyancing firm - not the ones that will provide the estate agent a kickback or hit his conveyancing targets set by head office.

My husband and I are planning to purchase a four bedroom maisonettein Totteridge with a mortgage from a bank. We would like to retain our conveyancer in Totteridge however our bank inform us now that she’s not listed on their "panel". Apparently we need to choose from the our lender panel firms or stay with our Totteridge conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent our mortgage company. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that our bank use our Totteridge lawyer?

Unfortunately,no. The bank home loan offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had open panels, including almost all conveyancing solicitors in Totteridge : a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your lender.