Help finding a good conveyance solicitor?

baby_fuzz

i would see if any friends or family can recommend anyone - and get a couple of quotes if there are no recommendations. they should all be around the same price TBH, and you might as well spend your money on one that you know is good, even if they are £20 dearer.

Richard_Webster

Purchase conveyancing costs: £282.00

Note the emphasised word! This can give some solicitors the let out to charge anything from £150-£600 extra for doing the legal work on the mortgage!

atruefaker

Hi

I am an FTB buying in London sw17 - I have had quotes from £1100 to £2500.

My mortgage advisor just sorted me out with a cheap solictor in Liverpool through econvayancer, if you wanted to take a look. (http://www1.utdgroup.com/legal/solicitor/home.asp)

I am not sure if you need a registered mortgage advisor to find you a quote but it is worth doing.

The solicitor I am going with has a 93% positive rating.

KFH - are the worst company I have ever dealt with- and hike up prices too.

Richard_Webster

My mortgage advisor just sorted me out with a cheap solictor in Liverpool through econvayancer, if you wanted to take a look. (http://www1.utdgroup.com/legal/solicitor/home.asp)

I am not sure if you need a registered mortgage advisor to find you a quote but it is worth doing.

Why on earth would you want a mortgage advisor to get you a quote?

Why not Google "Conveyancing Solicitor [Your Town]" to find some local solicitors and then phone them up and ask them to send you written estimates. While they are on the phone you will be able to gauge how helpful they are.

CapitanPugwash

You don't need a local conveyancer as everything can be done in the post. I've used Neale Turk (Jonathan Wheeler) for 5 purchases in ten years and he is based in Basingstoke with me being in London. They can give you a quote over the phone and also offer a great service with a small insurance fee which means you pay no costs to him if the seller pulls out (only searches etc). He has also done a lot of work through recommendation and for friends and family. You are also dealing with a solicitor instead of a conveyancer. Good luck finding a reasonable quote.... Best regards, CP

RX-78

I would definitely speak to the conveyancer in person, probably more then once.

Is the conveyacer easy to get hold of? Some receptionists will try ad "protect" the conveyacer by not allowing you to talk direct to conveyancer or even trying to aswer some questions themselves!
Is the conveyancer approchable? Nothing worse then paying someone and you dont feel you can ask him questions.
Is the conveyancer puctual and reliable? No point in saving £1-200 pounds and finding out you've lost that purchase because the conveyancer was inefficient. couple of hundred pounds is a small price to pay in grand scheme of house buying.

Worst thing to do is to let someone else (like EA or IFA) choose the conveyancer - you'll have no control.

Richard_Webster

You don't need a local conveyancer as everything can be done in the post.

This is true and I get a certain amount of work from out of my area - perhaps indirectly through MSE! However I always make the point that if something needs signing urgently then it is more difficult to just pop down from, say, Manchester to Eastleigh to sign! Even London is a bit of trek.

I would definitely speak to the conveyancer in person, probably more then once.

Is the conveyacer easy to get hold of? Some receptionists will try ad "protect" the conveyacer by not allowing you to talk direct to conveyancer or even trying to aswer some questions themselves!
Is the conveyancer approchable? Nothing worse then paying someone and you dont feel you can ask him questions.

Certainly you should be able to talk to the conveyancer when you first instruct him. However, I do have to say that if the client has a question that a secretary can answer, then why is it necessary for the client to speak to the conveyancer?

Sometimes I do get my staff saying things like "Mr X has phoned and I have explained about such and such, but he still doesn't understand, can you take the call?" Then I do, because perhaps my legal knowledge may enable me to give a clearer explanation.

If a client comes on the phone wanting to speak to me about his transaction I may not be able to remember all the details of his transaction the second he comes on the phone. This can result in me waffling and giving him unsatisfactory answers, because there are details that I have to check before I can be more definite. If he tells my secretary that he wants to know about progress and when exchange of contracts is likely there are three possibilities:
a.she knows and can tell him;
b.she asks me and I do know and can give him a reasonable estimate of when exchange is likely; or
c.I don't know because I have to check the file in more detail before I get back to him.

In the third case it is much better I look at the file first in peace and e-mail or phone him with my best estimate and explain any issues that could alter the estimate. I will have a to do list with an item like "Contact Mr Bloggs about likely exchange dates..."

Many clients are not prepared to tell my staff what they want to know, just repeating "Can I speak to Mr Webster?" Sorry, but I don't see why I should waste my time phoning somebody back to tell them something that my staff could easily have cleared up on the first call, if they are not prepared to tell them the nature of the query in the first place. Is that unreasonable?