Advice Please - First Time Buyer - Use estate agents solicitor or seek own?

TheGnome_2

Hello,

I am a first time buyer. My partner and I put an offer on a flat (2 bed leasehold in London) and the offer has been accepted.

In the past few days the Estate Agents have already put into action their own company called London Conveyancing and we have been allocated a solicitor from Meaby & Co. (London Conveyancing taking a commission for being the middle man). They have quoted us just over £1000.

What I would like to know is whether anyone has used a conveyancer and solicitor who were recommended by an Estate Agent and whether the experience was problem free and well managed.

Is it a case that they will obviously do everything above board and in your interest or should you have your own solicitor acting on your behalf?

Does £1000 seem like a perfectly reasonable quote for the service, as I assume it takes a lot of stress off you trying to arrange everything yourself for what should be a similar service?

Thank you in advance for any help!

smcqis

Most people would advise not to take the EA's solicitor in their experience. They may be good but even for 1000 this would seem at the top of the reasonable expense, however does this inclyde stamp duty (if its applicable).

Personally i would get a solitior recommended by friends and family

terryw

The solicitor could well be giving a kick-back from your money to the estate agent!

Get a few quotes locally and off the net.

Sammy85_2

£1000 seems like alot of money just for a purchase. We had that sort of quote for solicitor to handle the sale of old house and purchase of new one.

wessexw

Check what that £1000 covers also, any quotes I have received have stated the solicitors fee (and then add VAT) and then all the searches etc which are another few hundred.

I'm also buying in London and range around a few reputable family solicitors for quotes and they ranged from about £600-800 plus VAT and searches

But I agree with everyone who says not to touch an EA recommended solicitor, you can't be sure that they are really on your side.

Wheezy_2

Also note that conveyancing for a leasehold will be more expensive than for a freehold. But as others said, better go with a solicitor recommended by friends/family/colleagues...

JQ.

I would run a mile from a solicitor recommended by the Estate Agent in your position, even if was the cheapest. There is an immediate conflict of interest - if this EA is recommending this solicitor to all their purchasers then said solicitor may not want to cause too many problems with the sale as upsetting said EA could reduce their client numbers (income) significantly. The EA is acting on behalf of the other party in this transaction, they do not have your best interests at heart.

Get yourself somebody independant, then there's no worries.

motherofstudents

Although in general I would agree it is best to find your own solicitor etc by recommendation, when my mum sold her house and bought a flat we went along with the estate agent's conveyancer. The reason was that my mum was in hospital and we had to try to do everything under pressure to get her house sold asap. In fact the conveyancer & solicitor were brilliant. They kept in constant communication with us and I really couldn't fault them at all. They were much better than the bunch of idiots we had when we sold our house the year before, so I guess it doesn't always follow that they will not be doing their best for you. I don't see how it would be in the estate agent's interests to work with unreliable solicitors even if they are taking a cut. As far as the cost is concerned I don't know if that is about right, seems a lot to me but it is London:)

Richard_Webster

Although in general I would agree it is best to find your own solicitor etc by recommendation, when my mum sold her house and bought a flat we went along with the estate agent's conveyancer. The reason was that my mum was in hospital and we had to try to do everything under pressure to get her house sold asap. In fact the conveyancer & solicitor were brilliant. They kept in constant communication with us and I really couldn't fault them at all. They were much better than the bunch of idiots we had when we sold our house the year before, so I guess it doesn't always follow that they will not be doing their best for you. I don't see how it would be in the estate agent's interests to work with unreliable solicitors even if they are taking a cut. As far as the cost is concerned I don't know if that is about right, seems a lot to me but it is London

It is not as much of an issue when you are selling - remember the estate agent is acting for the seller.

However if he recommends a solicitor to the buyer then as has been suggested, there is a temptation not too ask too many awkward questions for fear of annoying the estate agent source of revenue - it would be unprofessional - but there are always going to be grey areas.

TheGnome_2

Thank you all for the advice.
They are a rather large EA company (I don't know if I can name them?).

They have stated that they don't mind us using our own solicitor. From what I understand is that they use such companies as London Conveyancing as they don't have the time to deal with everything. London Conveyancing told us that they have a number of solicitors who they use.

I just think that it is put across to imply that you can use your own solicitor, but it is an easier process if you don't......

I am going to get some quotes from other solicitors as suggested. Plus I will find out the break-down of the quote. Stamp duty will not apply.

Thank you all!

DVardysShadow

TheGnome wrote: »

Thank you all for the advice.
They are a rather large EA company (I don't know if I can name them?).

They have stated that they don't mind us using our own solicitor.

It would be more remarkable if they stated that they did mind.