Any advantage to local solicitor doing conveyancing?

ruthtc

Hi
Would appreciate any views on what advantage there is to having a local solicitor doing conveyancing for a house purchase vs someone who isn't...

The local one is c£250 more including all disbursements and trying to work out if there's any extra value to having someone who knows the area?

For info - it's a freehold property in england, we'll have a mortgage and the main q we'll have will be that the house overlooks some green belt land owned by another house - so we'll want to know about any attempts to develop etc

Opinions welcome!

Thanks

WestonDave

If you want extra local input you'll almost certainly need to use a local solicitor - a national one can tell you what is on the system re planning applications etc, but a local one may know of other local information (e.g. have acted for local developers, been aware of local planning reports etc). Whether that alone is worth £250 is doubtful.

However what you may well find is that having someone that you can go in and sit down with, can stand in their office and breathe down their neck when things seem to be going slowly etc etc, is worth a bit more money on what is afterall probably a rare transaction in your lifetime.

Its also worth checking that the quotes are like for like as some solicitors will do more searches than others - clearly gives you more information but its not always necessary or even sometimes that useful. When we bought last I did the local information search which came up with an alarming report of a nearby rubbish tip and a potential for flooding due to a stream within a certain distance. Turned out that the rubbish dump was an old farm slurry pit on a still working farm, and the stream was tiny and vertically down about 100ft - flooding from that - I think not! However that report is also the one which lists all recent planning applications and results for a certain radius around your house. Its also worth going back to the local firm and seeing if they will shift on price a bit - probably not a lot because they have different overheads etc, but you might get the difference down to £200 or so.

mikey_D

They may have more knowledge, however with a local solicitor its easy to pop in to drop off documents, ask a quick question, sign anything thats needed urgently etc. If you are looking at using a fimr further away, most things you are going to have to post to them at your cost, there is the time delay, and if it gets lost etc it could cause you major headaches. I have always used a local solictor (currently on my 3rd House purchase) and they are £300.00 more expensive than a recomended online company, however I think the comfort it brings is worth the extra expense, imangine if you are due to complete on a Friday and the solictors needs an urgent signature, if they are just down the road, it an easy thing to sort, if they aren't its a long drive, a lot or worry and maybe a failed completion. As well, Local solictors have a reputation to uphold, so there attention to detail etc could be greater, the solicitor we use always has us in before exchange to make sure we fully understand all the covenants on the housese, where all the boundaries lie, and goes through everthing in great detail to make sure its all inline with are expectations, I'm, not sure if the distance ones will do this by phone, or if others do it at all but to me its worth the extra cost, however money is money and others will be of the opininion that money saved is new things in the house etc, I fully see their point, the main question is you need to go with what you feel happy and comfortable with.

Good luck with your move.

LandyAndy

As WestonDave says do make sure that all quotes are for exactly the same work and being able to go in and see them and sign docs etc. can be an advantage.

I've always used local solicitors.

ILW

If you use a local solicitor, if you do not think they are doing the job right you can at least go to their office and shout at them. Difficult if they are 200 miles away. it worked for me when I was selling.

mufi

We're using a local one - as someone else said, one can roll along and annoy them should they be a little tardy:D. The decider for us is that we're going abroad in a couple of weeks, and need our passports; much better to produce them in person for ID checks than risk losing them in the post.

Having said that, I would view 'local' as within 20 miles or so (outside London, that is) - perhaps the OP could shop around a little more.

ruthtc

Yes - thanks all - should have been a bit clearer...nothing is really local as we're moving 200 miles...I mean 'local to the house we're buying' (recommended by a friend who lives up there) or 'not local' (being a firm someone else recommended but they're nowhere near either where we live now or where we're moving to!)

I'm inclined to save the money but it is niggling a bit...

mufi

It would seem more useful to have one local to where you live now: once you've moved the legal side is finished, so no advantage that I can see to having one there, apart from local knowledge of course.

Doshwaster

I am currently using a local solicitor - their quote was about £100 more than an out-of-town place and £50 than somewhere else nearby but I went with them as i had heard good reports and they were very pleasant when I initially popped in for a quote.

I like the idea that the receptionist already knows me and I can drop off documents or pop in on my way to work. In the grand scheme of things paying £100 more now is worth it saves time and hassle at this very stressful period in my life.

It tuns out (purely by chance) that my solicitor did the convayancing the last time the house was sold 4 years ago so she still has all of her records on file.

timmyt

ruthtc wrote: »

Hi
Would appreciate any views on what advantage there is to having a local solicitor doing conveyancing for a house purchase vs someone who isn't...

The local one is c£250 more including all disbursements and trying to work out if there's any extra value to having someone who knows the area?

For info - it's a freehold property in england, we'll have a mortgage and the main q we'll have will be that the house overlooks some green belt land owned by another house - so we'll want to know about any attempts to develop etc

Opinions welcome!

Thanks

you have not said who you are comparing them to. You pay for what you get in conveyancing. The cheaper you go the more corners are cut and the standard of service and quality falls. Like eating tesco value beans. Awful meal but cheap...and hey you may end up paying for medicine to put it right - so false economy

Depends whether you want:

1. a solicitor/legal executive/snr conveyncing executive for your fee. Many people do not get one, but rather receive a conveyor belt of headset Charlies who only read a pc screen and have no real idea what they are doing, or a former secretary with no qualifications to see the big picture of what they are doing
2. do you want direct dial telephone and personal email
3. do they force you to look to a website for updates rather than keeping you informed
4. will you get a written report with atatchments summarising all the legal papers into a very handy summary so you know all about your property, and any covenants (restrictions) of what you can and cannot do at the property

Local solicitor firms compared to internet ('if I make a mistake we won't be here in 12 months let alone when you try and sell') firms offer the majority of that.

However, if you just have price as your factor, then no lawyer will respect the transaction any more than you clearly do not.

Good luck. Pay a proper price for someone qualified, you owe it to yourself and family.

It is only when you sell will you know if you have a problem, or that knock on the door once you move in etc or when a friend tells you what higher service they got and you did not.