Online conveyancy, Conveyquote, Theadvisory

davevincent

Hello all,
I just about to buy my first house and today I am looking at quotes for conveyancy. I see there is a bit of controversy on this site with regard to online conveyancing, with a lot of people advising against it.
I stumbled across a website called theadvisory.co.uk, which recommends a company called ConveyQuote.com. Does anyone know anything about these websites and has anyone had experience of ConveyQuote.com? Their fees are 3-4 times lower than a local solicitor.

My opinion is that conveyancy isn't rocket science, so I am inclined to save money here. I think most local sols are pretty brazenly ripping ou off charging 500 quid in legal fees for this service.

I am dubious a bit about theadvisory.co.uk, though. They are mentioned by Time Out a couple of times, and by a journalist on the indy on one occasion, but generally there isn't much info. I am suspicious that this website is a front for conveyquote, since it is so heavily advertised on theadvisory.co.uk (I'm not allowed to post the link as I am a new user, but sure you can find it if you're intr).

Opinions?

G_M

I regularly refer people to their advice on how to compare quotes, but cannot comment on their actual conveyancing. Did see negative feedback some time back.

£500 ish is not a bad fee level. I agree a lot of conveyancing is not rocket science (I also advocate DIY for some people in some circumstances,) but having said that it is an essential elemant in house-buying and getting it done right is vital.

When compared to £2-3000 fees by estate agents......

The key drawback of online (apart from hidden fees) is the inability to go in. With a high street firm you can drop in to sign documents if needed, you can get a face to face explanation of issues etc. Online you might just be dealing with a call centre.

googler

G_M wrote: »

When compared to £2-3000 fees by estate agents......

...and the point of the comparison?

Richard_Webster

My opinion is that conveyancy isn't rocket science, so I am inclined to save money here. I think most local sols are pretty brazenly ripping ou off charging 500 quid in legal fees for this service.

If you are buying your mortgage lender will insist on instructing a solicitor, so you will get charged for that and the saving will not be great.

If you do not have a mortgage, you can do it yourself. Some people will have worked in solicitors' offices and have some knowledge. Others will have learnt by experience. However it is far too easy to say that £500 is a lot of money. People don't know all the stuff we have to check, and often don't want to know. In maybe 9 out of 10 cases you might get away with it and buy and have no problems later selling, but do you want to take the the risk of being the 1 in 10 case where there is a legal biggy you didn't spot?

G_M

googler wrote: »

...and the point of the comparison?

The criticality of the respective services provided?
The professionalism?
The training required?
.......

geoffky

I am one of those one in ten who would have been in a whole heap of trouble if i had not used a solicitor for my buying as it ended up taking six months to sort out and had to have the land registry come to the house..A conveyancer had been used for the last sale and not spotted it..It would of meant i only had legal access to half of my land and next door owning the legal rights to the other..Peace of mind is priceless.

davevincent

Thought you would like to see the email and response from theadvisory.com. (bit aggressive, timmyt - you must have a chip about something or other!!!)


On 19 Dec 2011, at 11:46
wrote:

Hello,

I'm just about to appoint a solicitor for the purchase of my new home, and recently came across your website. I notice that you recommend ConveyQuote.com. Do you have any conflict of interest in recommending this site (is theadvisory.com truly independent)? - it seems very well-highlighted on your site and this makes a sceptic like me a bit suspicious! Can you allay my fears?

Best wishes

Hi - thanks for getting in touch. There is no conflict of interest. You will see that we recommend (based on personal experience) conveyquote & compareandconvey. Between the two sites there are over 20 specialist conveyancing solicitors to choose from.

You will also see that on the compareandconvey site all the solicitors have live feedback (this is not edited in anyway and so perhaps you would be more comfortable choosing one of these as opposed to just taking my word on conveyquote).

If the property you are buying or selling is leasehold, I would go with compareandconvey (this is an update we are just about to add to the site). The reason for this is that recently we have noticed that conveyquote costs on leasehold transactions have not always been matching their online quote estimate (for freehold they are still accurate though).

I hope this info is of use.

Kind regards,

googler

G_M wrote: »

The criticality of the respective services provided?
The professionalism?
The training required?
.......

....and in terms of ongoing expenses?

googler

timmyt wrote: »

conveyancers have all the risk, Estate Agents have less, as they disclaim it all....

Yes, but which of the two has the greater ongoing outlays and expenses?

davevincent

I went with a local solicitor in the end (no necessarily true, but I gambled that there would be less chance of delays by doing this and speed is important to me) but haggled them down 20% in their fees because of the cheaper prices these online companies offer. I also investigated a company called conveyancy warehouse, who seem to have had pretty positive feedback wherever I looked. If time was less important I would certainly consider the online guys.

googler

timmyt wrote: »

have you any idea how much PII cover is! practising certificates, 16 hours of CPD training, larger buildings and therefore overheads...the list goes on.

I have no idea, I'm afraid. I don't know what PII stands for, to be truthful. I'll go and google it.

How much time do you spend travelling to client's houses, and prospective client's houses? Is there a solicitor's equivalent to valuations and viewings?

How much time do you spend with members of the public who take up your time and don't become clients?

In the case of London-based EAs, they seem to be obliged to provide an ad-hoc taxi service to take viewers to and from viewings. Is there an equivalent of this for a solicitor?

Why does a solicitor need a larger building than an EA?