Has anyone used James Barnes - solicitor service in W13?

jinglebell

Bank advised we need to find a solicitor before applying for a mortgage.

We had a few quotes so far and this James Barnes seem to be having a reasonable quote. It's just that when he called me, I didn't feel like he was listening. He did pretty much all the talking. Not sure about this solicitor.

I think maybe it is a good idea to go with someone local. My colleague told me because we are buying form housing association, it is pretty standard and straightforward. He told me to go for whoever is the cheapest.

Has anyone used him before?

Need help!!!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fire_Fox

Never ever go for anything other than a personal recommendation. Manys the deal that fell through because one or other solicitor was a useless waste of space and lied through his back teeth to cover his lazy tracks. I nearly lost my flat as the other side's solicitor lost the lease and stalled for time blaming us. We did lose my partner's nearly flat as the other side's solicitor had family problems and stalled for time blaming us.

jinglebell

need more opinions????

asp1969

If this is shared ownership then don't necessarily go with the cheapest. The fact that you are buying from a HA does not make it straightforward.

sandraslice

Definitely go with a local solicitor, we are in a chain with one 200 miles away and now we are talking about couriers being used to bring paperwork as they are useless and uncontactable..But to bring it upto speed we want to avoid even an overnight delivery...

Speak to different people who have moved recently,, make a short list of those that have been recommended and then give those a call. If they are not all that forthcoming on the phone now,, Don't bother with them, because they won't be any better once you have agreed to go with them.

Dont use the cheapest, unless they happen to be the most helpful and have a good reputation..

jinglebell

sandraslice wrote: »

Definitely go with a local solicitor, we are in a chain with one 200 miles away and now we are talking about couriers being used to bring paperwork as they are useless and uncontactable..But to bring it upto speed we want to avoid even an overnight delivery...

Speak to different people who have moved recently,, make a short list of those that have been recommended and then give those a call. If they are not all that forthcoming on the phone now,, Don't bother with them, because they won't be any better once you have agreed to go with them.

Dont use the cheapest, unless they happen to be the most helpful and have a good reputation..

Thank you very much.

pxtb

I recommend James barnes, I chose to use him based on a recommendation. He is very local to me coz I purchased in camden. I saw him once to sign papers and everything else was done over the phone or email. His assistants/secretary are the ones I always talk to coz he is always on a meeting but they always tell you that they will check your file when you call them.

I think for the price that he charges it is very reasonable. It is also fixed and everything is itemised on the start. When everything has been finalized I was also given an itemised final bill.

I also had a cashback which was sent by halifax directly to them. I expected it to take a while to be sent to me by James but I was surprised how quick they processed it and credited it to my account.

tinyeyes123

We approached him for a quote and he was considerably cheaper than anyone else. I asked our estate agent if he had any views and he recommended not to use him, he wouldn't divulge why, just said to keep clear. It worked out ok in the end as our solicitor agreed to price match the James Barnes quote!

Hoof_Hearted

tinyeyes123 wrote: »

I asked our estate agent if he had any views and he recommended not to use him, he wouldn't divulge why, just said to keep clear.

Probably because he doesn't pay referral fees to the agent.

farmbrough

I worked with James Barnes for a while as a lawyer and can confirm he knows Housing Association conveyancing inside out. He is technically a good lawyer. Yes, you will most likely be speaking to a secretary or assistant much of the time, because these are the realities of running a law firm in the 21st Century. It can't economically be done for the price most people are willing to pay without delegation to some degree.
Jim will get your job done for you.

Estate agents have many reasons for recommending lawyers. Referral fees are one, friendships are another, and efficiency is a third. Expect a combination of all three.

The colleague who said " because we are buying from housing association, it is pretty standard and straightforward." clearly has never worked in property law. Housing associations matters can vary enormously, and in many cases the cheapest HA flats can take more work than houses costing ten times the price. I had a housing association matter take over a year once, due to the slowness of the HA. :-)

J123P

Hi tinyeyes123... I experienced the same issues. What estate agent did you use? Mine was Foxtons and they advised me not to use them but didn't give a proper answer (something about poor service) However my friend used them twice and got a good service. Has anyone else had any recent experiences with James Barnes Solicitors for conveyancing or know of reasons not to use them?