conveyancing-warehouse

stphnstevey

I know there has been a few posts on online conveyancing, but there is no one post that links them all. If you were considering this, as I am, you would have to read through several posts to be able to evaluate this.

I was hoping that people could share there experiences in this one post but also feel free to place links to all the other posts.

Purely selfishly, I am particular interested in conveyancing-warehouse and peoples experience with them. I have heard they are good but haven't seen a post from somebody that has gone all the way to completion with them.

Note to Martin - if your listening!, as there appears to be huge savings to be made from online conveyancing, could there possibly be an article/review on this written????

LaurenceM

From the point of view of someone who has to deal with them on a daily basis, I have to say that most of them are a complete nightmare. Why?

1. Staff turnover is quite high. It's by no means unusual to end up dealing with three or four different staff over the same simple transaction;

2. There's no hurrying them. Because the transactions are done to a formula, if you're in a rush, forget it.

3. Any complications have to be referred to other people in the firm. This can cause delays as a result of person 1 raising points A, B and C, and then person 2 raising points D, E and F.

4. Communications can be hard work. They write very few letters and speaking to people can involve hanging on four 15-20 minutes. Web based interfaces can tell you where you are in a transaction, but cannot help with the many little queries that most people have, and which until resolved, cause worry.

The reason for this is that money is tight in these firms. They cannot afford well qualified staff. They work the people they employ very hard so they have little time for each case. The personal touch is completely missing.

My verdict.

Find out how much of the fee you are paying is going to a referrer. If what is left is less than £500, corners will be cut somewhere.

For freehold sales where you're not in a hurry, they will probably be OK.

For leasehold sales, you may find that they are out of their depth, or you may not.

For purchases, you will have to weigh up the saving (perhaps £200-£300 on a transaction of 500-1000 times more than that sum) against the additional stress and the risk that something will go wrong.

The best thing to do is to seek a recommendation from someone who is not receiving a kick-back. Many Solicitors and Conveyancers pay "referral fees" which are little better than regulated bribes, to get work. In today's fairly competitive environment, if a lawyer is not cutting fees, then the reason is probably that he or she is confident that they will be busy without scrabbling for work in the mud.

L

dfarry

As you probably know I have said alot about Conveyancing Warehouse in the other posts so you should check them all out.

To summarise though...

They are real solicitors.... Roberts Solicitors in fact, based in Macclesfield.

Although my move trundles on and looks likely to collapse again in the next two weeks, this is because of the appaling service and communications of other solicitors down the chain.

I believe that my buyers solicitor is a large nationwide company (well I know they are)....probably from a referral by a Estate Agent.... I know when you call them you sit in a queue....wait...and then get someone who has no idea about the case.

When I call Conveyancing Warehouse, I get through immediately to the switchboard and always get put through immediately to the person who has been handling my case - who is always extremely charming and helpful.

Based on my experiences of the other solicitors I think I chose very well, and was lucky - as it was a gamble really to use them.

To say that my solicitor has worked her socks off on this move is an understatement....and next week she'll be doing the same... no doubt hitting more brick walls as she pushes for exchange the week after.

As for the no move no fee arrangement, that is indeed correct - after my chain collapsed at the beginning of September a cheque was sent to me immediately (no interest however as it was apparently less than £12). Overall I got £140 less back than what I had originally paid them, due to the local searches and other disbursements.

At the moment you could say they are effectively representing me for free as they hasve not asked for any further monies to be held on account.

Judge for your self..... I'd say they come highly recommended! :j

trevor8

I too am dealing with Roberts solicitors and no problems my side the move is pretty easy as no chain on either side.Speaking to the vendors about their local solicitors they are paying about twice as much as i am;) so well worth it

stphnstevey

Thanks for your comments. This was exactly the stuff I was looking for.

dfarry - is there any chance you could link your most relevant posts, to this one to make things easy to find?

Any more feedback welcome.

dfarry

Here you go...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=219221
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=259523
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=259438
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=266947
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=267753

mi-key

Roberts Solicitors ( conveyancing warehouse ) are doing our move, and while its probably a pretty simple one compared to some, I cant fauly them really.

Documents have always been sent quickly, along with covering letters explaining any particular points, and saying what they need us to do next.

The same person has dealt with our case all the way through, and when I did have a query and phoned, she was very helpful.

Going through them is saving us approx £300 compared to what a local firm would cost.

On the flipside, my friend is in the process of buying a flat ( offer agreed roughly the same time as us ) and he is using someone local. He doesnt reckon much on them, and has had to chase them constantly, and whenever he has a query and phones, they give the impression they cant get rid of him quickly enough.

stphnstevey

I think, as long as it is a bog standard freehold property and you are willing to take the chance that it might take a bit longer (which is only a chance and the feedback suggests they are actually more efficient), then the savings are phenominal compared to high street prices. I haven't seen anyone have a bad word about conveyancing-warehouse (and I am nothing to do with them, honestly - merely a consumer looking for the best deal).

I have today, instructed them for our house purchase, so I will let you know how it goes.

All other experiences welcome to post. Online conveyancing, but doesn't have to be conveyancing-warehouse.

I think the only way of becoming confident in using companies like this is to hear from other people's experiences - good or bad.

It's funny that alot of us wouldn't think twice about making an online or phone mortgage application involving thousands of pounds and half a lifetime of payments, but not many would do the same for a solicitor involving a few hundred pounds and a few months of commitment.

dfarry

Hey guys don't go swamping conveyancing warehouse with more work.... well at least until I finally get moved (if it ever happens)

erind

I am currently in the process of moving home, and have found conveyancing warehouse to be extremely efficient. I am hoping to exchange in the next week or so, and up till now everything has gone very smoothly.

maryjane01

I have completed with conveyancing warehouse. I keep meaning to post the total costs but with the move things have been a bit hectic. They were great and no delays encountered. We exchanged and completed on the date we wanted (well a small delay but that was due to our lender being so slow in organising the mortgage offer). As soon as I said what date I wanted to exchange and complete they wrote to the sellers solicitor to let them know. We had to exchange and complete on the same day due to a 100% mortgage. There is a small charge for completing and exchanging in a short period of time (£35 I think), but I think this is fair enough. Their rates are so cheap if you expect your case to be put to the front of queue you can pay extra for it. The only other difference from the original quote that I remember was a £15 admin fee (photocopying, phone calls, postage etc.) which was not part of the original quote, although they did not bill me for the special delivery charge when returning my documents. They say they return documents by recorded delivery, and if you want special delivery you pay extra for it. Basically as I see it I was charged £10.50 more than the original quote (£15 admin fee, minus special delivery charge), but they were so good and the price still so cheap there is no way I could quibble over that. Also, if you want them to do your stamp duty and tax form it is a bit extra.

The £250 basic quote is for a basic service, extra services are extra charges. Maybe another solicitor that charges double includes extra things like doing the stamp duty form. After you instuct them online they send you a very comprehensive booklet which outlines what all the aditional expenses would be if they apply to you. All the extra charges are fair and reasonable and I would say they are still very good value. After reading their booklet if you are not happy with any extra charges that may apply in your situation there is no need to proceed.