Nationwide mortgage with free valuation & conveyancing. Do I need a solicitor?

bowlhead99

We went with the 'bundled' free conveyancing with Nationwide. Coincidentally also Cheshire-based (we're in London) but not the names above. They gave the impression of being a high-volume processing shop service rather than someone who would take an interest in you personally - the goal is to run the searches, deal with the legal bits of your mortgage, and handle the conveyance of the property from the seller's name to yours.

We dealt with them nearly entirely by email and I don't think I spoke to a qualified solicitor, just a 'case manager' although there would have been a qualified person in the background somewhere.

We wanted quite a complex deed of trust and found our own firm to work on that with us independently, because we really wanted someone who would understand our needs and be able to talk through ideas rather than simply process paperwork. But all the conveyancing went through the Nationwide one, with no real issues, and they did say they could have done a deed of trust if we wanted one. You don't need to find anyone else to represent you if you take this service.

The basic flat fee conveyance covered by Nationwide is pretty cheap (250 ish) with a menu of fees for extras (such as doing the stamp duty return if you need one etc), and their out-of-pocket charges for searches. Those basic extra fees and searches cost us ~£370, excluding the land registration fees which vary based on your buy price (ours were quite hefty, but in line with what the landregistry website says; it might be under £100, or over £500 depending on the property value).

On valuation - we upgraded the free bundled one to a full building survey so we paid extra for that (but it was cheaper to do that at the Nationwide referral rate, than going elsewhere ourselves). The service was fine, though it took a little longer to get back to us with the full results than they had suggested.

I'd say if you don't have any recommendations for solicitors from anyone else, you might as well take the Nationwide free one, I can't see it would be any worse than putting a pin in a phonebook to pick one. But if you do know of someone reliable from friends or workmates, you're probably better off using them - a ~£250 discount in the context of the whole property price is perhaps not enough to leap into the unknown.

DaveLand

Our extras ended up being £800 on top of the "free" basic legal fees. We were appointed Total Conveyancing as well and didn't find them too bad - the seller's solicitor was a lot worse which meant that TCS would chase every 3 days or so. I must have spoken to them (TCS) about a dozen times during the 8 week duration to force them to chase the vendor's end

But all done now through my persistence and we are happy to become homeowners for the first time!

happy-chappy_2

I used this deal about 6 months ago. My solicitor - appointed by Nationwide was brilliant, no problems getting hold of them, and when I told them I wanted to move fast they did. 2 moths between my offer being accepted and me getting the keys

highguyuk

happy-chappy, which solicitor were you appointed?

Additionally, has anyone "upgraded" there valuation report to a homebuyer report and how much did it cost?

moreofthegoodstuff

highguyuk wrote: »

happy-chappy, which solicitor were you appointed?

Additionally, has anyone "upgraded" there valuation report to a homebuyer report and how much did it cost?

I upgraded and it was £190. Took them a long time to send the report and had to chase them. Report was a bit over the top and gave bad scores for things that aren't really much of a problem but I guess they have to cover themselves!

Forsythia10

We thought the free conveyancing would help us to buy a house, but only a few days after receiving the pack from TCS we have opted out and gone for the £250 cashback and our own solicitor.

These were some of the things that raised my concerns (some minor I know, but you need to be sure of good service on such an important matter!):

• Neither the allocated case handler or their manager were listed on the company's website (though other case handlers were)
• The case handler did not sign the letter personally.
• The company uses 0843 numbers exclusively. These cost between 1p and 13p per minute - not included in our inclusive calls.
• My first email to the case handler bounced back (though correctly addressed).
• The two emails I sent with basic short queries were not answered (not even with an automated reply)

Today, having appointed our own solicitor I feel 100% happier and much less stressed. I think the 'free conveyancing' would only have saved a small amount at best (as there were so many add ons).

Mrs_ted

Thanks for your post. Very interesting.

highguyuk

I've just been allocated TCS :-(

TeamLowe

We got O'Neill Patient and although there's threads on here raging against them but our case manager has been fantastic and replied to emails quickly.

We paid £156 to upgrade free valuation survey to a homebuyers and in total £550ish on disbursements

toonarmyc365

I have recently purchased a property and fell for the Nationwide free legal advice in the form of TCS.

Where to begin, initial fees for searches trebled from £400 to in excess of £1300. The search company they used took over 3 weeks to complete a simple local authority search almost making us lose the house. The only reason the searches were returned were due to me chasing TCS search company LMS, who, to my amazement, sub contract this search to a third party company who I then chased, after all of this chasing the search suddenly appeared.

In addition to this, on the day of exchange I was informed all searches and everything were complete, only to be told 30 minutes before the close of business, that they needed an additional search which wouldn't be back for 48 hours.

The most worrying part of their service was their handling of the contracts. I was purchasing a new build, and on the contracts the address was completely wrong, even though TCS should have proof read the documentation, I was told this was fine and to amend it by hand!

The only positive I can think of was that TCS are very prompt in replying to emails, but that is clutching at straws.

As a first time buyer, the process was made far more difficult and stressful and to top it all off, after I had picked up the keys from the vendor, TCS called to ask if I know if I had completed yet or not!

Avoid if possible!