Discuss The ‘conveyancing’ checklist

MSE_Jenny

This thread is to discuss

The 'conveyancing' checklist

The first point of call is read the full House Buying guide. Then this discussion is specifically to talk about feedback and tips on conveyancing.

If you want to discuss house buying in general, please go to the House Buying Discussion.

If you’ve got a suggestion/tip

Simply click reply and add your suggestion, though its worth scanning down first to check it's not been duplicated.

rmc76_2

I am currently buying a home. After contacting a few local companies, and then going further afield, I saved £1400 on the quote from the local company. I have taken a punt on rock bottom price. So far, fingers crossed, all correspondence has been swift, professional and courteous. I will let you know after completion if it stays on track! If anyone wants the company name then I am happy to let you know.

timmyt

so what is your purchase price and what is your quote?

- do you have a solicitor or a glorified secretary
- will you get a bound written report summarising all the purchase papers so you know what you are actually buying


really cheap usually means problems, or if the chain goes slow or your legal papers have an issue, the conveyancer gets stuck for what to do.

you wont knbow the problem though often until you come to sell.

fingers crossed hey

Richard_Webster

I guess you signed their terms and conditions because they will point to them when they send you their bill if you query any apparent extra charges - they will say that they were all explained there.

heygringo

I think the problem with getting quotes for a Coveyancing Solicitor is the same as most other quotes, ie a basic ins. quote, You pays your money & makes your choice. But these types of quotes are a lot more serious. I've been looking at as many Coveyancing Solicitor reviews as possible for when the time comes to engage one (our property is on the market) The reviews I'm reading are as diverse as can possibly be. Some reviewers comments slate a particular firm, but then another will recommend them as being the best thing since sliced bread. It seems to come down to WHO you get to deal with within a company. The latest couple that I've tried to "check out" is "Friday's Property Lawyers" who get good & bad reviews, & Blackhurst Budd of Blackpool Lancs. but can't find any reviews for, but who sound a reputable firm, admittedly from their own blurb.:( Anyone know of this firm?

blue_diamond_3

rmc76 wrote: »

I am currently buying a home. After contacting a few local companies, and then going further afield, I saved £1400 on the quote from the local company. I have taken a punt on rock bottom price. So far, fingers crossed, all correspondence has been swift, professional and courteous. I will let you know after completion if it stays on track! If anyone wants the company name then I am happy to let you know.

Hi,if you found the company ok I would be grateful for the name please. After spending hours looking today I would be grateful of any help.
Cheers.

DVardysShadow

Missing from the Setting up Home section is a reminder to read all meters, contact suppliers and keep a note of the readings

silvercar

Cheapest is not always best.

In my opinion, the cheapest can often involve extras will hidden in the T&C that decent firms include in their quote. As a guide any firm that excludes completing the Land Reg form from their quote is one that is also likely to hide other things in their list of extras. A decent firm would automatically expect to register your ownership of the property with land registry as part and parcel of the conveyancing work.

blue_diamond_3

Thanks for the info. I need a quick turn around but the more I read the more depressed I get:-( Even my local firms have not bothered replying to my phone messages. I live north of Sheffield but if anyone knows of a quick reliable firm that will not break the bank, please feel free to let me know before I break down completely.

Richard_Webster

I think that the checklist needs to list some of the additional fee scams that so many firms seem to use to make an apparently cheap fee much more expensive in practice than it actually is.

For instance, some firms will quote a "Professional Fee" for "Conveyancing on a Purchase" and then hide away in terms and conditions that they will charge you as much again and more for the legal work on a mortgage if you are getting one.

Then there's the completing the SDLT Form Fee, the Archiving Fee, the Professional Indemnity Contribution, the fee for completing in less than 14/21 days, etc, etc.

A solicitor can't clutter his estimate/quote with explanations about lots of fairly unlikely things that might happen in a small percentage of cases, but a high proportion of buyers have mortgages, so the main quote should clearly show extras related to the mortgage, any transaction over £40,000 requires an SDLT form, and most conveyancing transactions complete in 14 days or less from exchange, so all these things are pretty standard.

I think a few people should complain vigorously about misleading advertising and then some of these firms would be seen not to be any cheaper than a lot of high street firms.

Another scam is the use of the illustrative figure for legal costs on the mortgage shown in section 8 of a mortgage offer. Typically this is around £120-£180 plus VAT and is used by the lender to calculate the APR. Some firms say in their small print that they will charge that amount extra for the mortgage work.

For some reason (the Scots connection?) RBS/Nat West (and maybe others) put in high figures here. I have one in front of me where a figure of £770 is quoted for [

B]Solicitor's Fee.[/B] This fee is payable to your solicitor on completion of the service. The figure quoted here is an estimate. Please check the actual charges with your chosen solicitor.

The client is borrowing £110K on a £204K property. So some firms will take the opportunity to charge a figure like £770 in this sort of case. This makes me sick and should be exposed. My professional fees for the purchase and the mortgage will be less than that.

A largish local firm near me when providing a "quote" for conveyancing puts in a separate fee of £100 plus VAT for a mortgage with a marker beside it that refers to a paragraph below which reads:

Please note that the lenders conveyancing fee quoted here is an estimate. It represents our minimum charge for dealing with your lender and their requirements. Where your lender prescribes a conveyancing fee in excess of this figure then your lenders prescribed fee will prevail. We will confirm the requisite fee with you once we receive the lenders mortgage instructions. Please note that our fee will be the same fee as specified in your mortgage illustration and will usually appear at section 8 of your mortgage offer.

You can imagine that the average person doesn't really understand the significance of that comment and happily assumes that the fee will just be £100. I believe this is thoroughly unprofessional and the firm in question should be reprimanded by the SRA for misleading advertising.

not_loaded

silvercar wrote: »

Cheapest is not always best.

In my opinion, the cheapest can often involve extras will hidden in the T&C that decent firms include in their quote. As a guide any firm that excludes completing the Land Reg form from their quote is one that is also likely to hide other things in their list of extras. A decent firm would automatically expect to register your ownership of the property with land registry as part and parcel of the conveyancing work.

Equally, does it go without saying that dearest is not always best?

Before committing, a bit of analysis using MSE and google pays dividends.

My feeling is that a lot of people react quickly to a deceptively low quote and regret it afterwards. When I queried my quotes in detail, I definitely got the feeling from some firms of, ‘look, do you want it or not?’.