buying without using solicitor

monaro

advice on ,are u always best to use solicitors when buying a house,even though u know sellers quite well{not friends] or can u just use solicitors for final written work,or is it not worth hassle.
ps live in scotland,diff from england?
cheers

JayZed

Don't know about Scotland, I'm afraid. In England and Wales, I'd say that how well you know the seller doesn't really have any bearing on whether or not you use a solicitor. I think the key factors are:

- Do you know what needs to be done in terms of conveyancing?
- Are you able to spend the necessary time to gather all the paperwork? And is the time/cost ratio worthwhile (i.e. how much is your time worth to you)?
- Are you prepared for the possibility that you might miss something that will come back to bite you when you try to sell the house a few years later - with nobody to blame but yourself?

If you can answer yes to all these questions, then it's worth looking into self-conveyancing. Personally, I'd rather pay for the peace of mind and lack of hassle.

As I say, things may be different in Scotland, I can't speak to that.

monaro

like u said ,do i want to take a chance,i suppose at least if anything went wrong in future, i could fall back on solicitors,its just seems an awful amount of money,ps im only buying,not buying +selling
cheers

olias

Don't know about Scotland, but in England a solicitor will cost about £700. Average Uk house price is about £150000-£200000. £700 to me is a bargain for peace of mind on such a huge purchase

Olias

silvercar

If you are getting a mortgage you will have to employ a solicitor. No lender will release the money to you before completion and lenders won't pay the other side direct. When your survey comes back with things for your solicitor to check, are you competent to check them yourself?

This could be the biggest purchase you ever make, saving a few hundred pounds could cost you tens of thousands in the future.

monaro

like i said only buying so fee might not be that much,and it would give me grief ,guaranteed!!!
cheers