using an online solicitor??

kevjojackmikey

We tried an online conveyancer and it was a disaster. not convinced the person overseeing the work was fully trained.too important a transaction to penny pinch. ended up going back to a high street property solicitor. you get what you pay for

Tancred

ttd14 wrote: »

On-line solicitors won't give you the time or quality of work that a locally based conveyancer can and should give you. Being dealt with as a person and not a reference number means you will find local conveyancers easier to approach, not to mention more reliable.

There are too many problems that can occur with on-line solicitors and considering that you're intending to spend the most you likely have done in one single purchase, I know I'd want someone who I could actually talk to rather than e-mail.

Rubbish. I used an 'online' solicitor when I first bought and had no problems at all. There is absolutely no need to talk 'face to face' for a simple conveyancing transaction. Obviously not all are good, so you need to do your reserarch. Also make sure that you use one who is CQS registered.

jud!th

I searched for them on the internet as they are acting for us and doing an excellent job (I wanted to compare them to Barnetts of Southport who are doing an appalling job for our buyers) I found that 1stpropertylawyers have 98% positive feedback from http://www.feefo.com/GB/en/reviews/1st-Property-Lawyers-Conveyancing/?id=129191&mode=service

Personally, I would totally recommend them. We speak to one named professional, who we can always get through to on the phone. They are clear, friendly, available and professional. We've bought and sold 3 times before and they are by far the best.

hth

Judith

raindudu

Anyone had experience with Beaumont Legal? They are on the panel of HSBC which is our mortgage lender. Are they any good?

tomasf

I'm an estate agent. Whilst nobody ever trusts us I really haven't any reason to tell you just how It is plain and simple. Nobody knows the online vs high street sols vs conveyancers debate better than the estate agent does. We don't just sell the houses we chase the sales So we deal with them day in day out.

For me online is without doubt the best way to go, but in doing so be very aware there are some completely incompetant Conveyancing firms out there. If you search for the cheapest you'll get someone like Beaumont legal. There comes a point where a service is so cheap it just doesn't work. Think of a company like Three. You'll get a cheap phone line but you'll curse the day you ever wanted to save a few quid once you need to use their customer service. We as agents call them the conveyance who answers the phone can't eeven find their own clients files they send us letters in the post asking for EPCs they could have simply tapped in a postcode and hey presto downloaded.

You need at least an ounce of intelligence and a proper conversation on a phone + a willingness to get the job done. online does not mean faceless. Invariably I can speak to a conveyancer for a case... when the otherside use the high street solicitor all I get is "I can put you through to their voicemail" and then more often than not they don't return a call. High street solicitors in my experience are slow. They don't seem infused and keen to get a case through. And lets face it its an assistant 'a paralegal' who deals with the case anyway. In the high street sols we are talking big piles of case bundles on desks slowly getting sorted. Go to one of the big conveyancers like the one we use MyHomeMove and its a proper nerve centre digitized offices. If we get acting on both sides our cases go through fast. I read hear about local knowledge being beneficial that's just untrue. A conveyancer does not need this it just makes people worried when their sale is in Brighton but their solicitor is in a big office in Leicester. Of course if it went offshore I'd have an issue but why on earth pay ridiculously expensive local high street sols fees when you can pay a set fee low cost. Just don't go too low!!!

Plus what people forhet to mention here is no move no fee. High street sols charge for work carried out regardless. Conveyancers (not all) make sure whatever work they do if a sale falls through regardless of fault no charges are made. Just the searches for the purchaser and even those can be bought by another purchaser. sales fall apart all the time Its plain wrong that people still pay fees can't all the other successful cases cover the ones that fail? High street sols for me are a greedy slow entity and I wouldn't ever use them for my own sale/purchase.

benjus

Most high street solicitors do have email these days, you know! They may not have snazzy high-tech web portals, but those don't help you if no-one is actually keeping them up to date.

In theory an online firm should be able to do exactly the same job as a high street firm, but have lower overheads and pass those savings on to customers. The reality is a bit more complicated. Many firms would rather pass the overhead savings onto their profit margins, so cut costs elsewhere, e.g. understaffing the operation, in order to still offer low prices to customers (low HEADLINE prices that is - watch out for the extras).

Also, if you've invested a lot in your education to become a qualified solicitor, would you really want to work in a production-line environment in a big shed in the middle of nowhere? I would guess that these firms struggle to find good staff.

I'm not saying that they are all bad, just that the concept of "online = lower overheads = same service but cheaper" doesn't always work in practice.