In Which Town Do I Get A Solicitor

MaryJane1962

We are buying a house 200 miles away (nothing to sell).

Is it best to use a solicitor in the town that we currently live, or the town we are moving to?

Thanks
Mary

PasturesNew

Where you are now, so you can pop down to sign stuff .... and just be around/available if there are questions/queries etc.

cattie

I agree with PaturesNew. It's much more convenient when the solicitor is local to you. If there are any hold ups or anything it's so much easier being able to drop off/pick up documentation when the office is fairly local & it helps the process go through smoothly.

Cissi

That would be my advice too!

Although, we did this when we moved 100 miles and were so happy with our solicitor (who had also acted for us when we bought the first house) that we've stuck with him since and are using him again for our current purchase, still 100 miles away. It will mean taking a day to go and see him at some point soon (as we did when we sold our last house and for our wills) but we don't mind as it means visiting the area where we lived when we were first married! Oh and for our first purchase we were many hundred miles away as we arrived from abroad, and while it was a tad complicated it still went smoothly so the solicitor's location isn't all that important in the end. The main thing is to go with someone that you feel comfortable with and trust fully.

charliee_3

it is possible to have a solicitor anywhere, ours in in south wales, we are in essex.. its not too bad, docs are signed and sent by post and most things can be done over the phone or by email...

Kavanne

i used one 60 miles away, everything done by post or email, no problems

MaryJane1962

Thanks everybody. I think I'll go with a local one.

zzzLazyDaisy

I started off with a local solicitor but sacked them because they simply did not have local knowledge - I bought a house in a mining area and they were introducing all sorts of complications. I changed to a solicitor local to where I was buying and it turned out to be the best thing I ever did because there was a problem with the plan on the titled certificate held at the land registry, because my solicitor was only two doors down from the sellers solicitor they were able to sort it out quickly.

Davesnave

It depends on the property, as LazyDaisy says, above.

I've used the same solicitor for a number of sales/purchases, but the latest purchase is agricultural and I felt a local specialist would be better. He's 120 miles away.

No problems so far. If I email, an answer comes back in ten minutes & docs just take an extra day or so by post. Let's face it, a dozy solicitor could have docs in the office for a week or more before you know! He's also close to the vendor's solicitor, who may to need a bit of a prod, judging by present performance.

Oh, and there's phones..........

benjo

unless there is a specific reason that a local solicitor cant deal with the type of work, I would always go local. I just think 'out of sight, out of mind' could perhaps apply and it is always nice for your solicitor to know that you are only a moment away from popping around, taking up residence in his reception area until he answers your questions - if need be of course.