At what point do I appoint a conveyancer ?

nirish

I'm at the point of viewing houses and now considering potential a potential offer.

Should I already have a conveyancer appointed at this point?

Realised if I had an offer accepted I wouldn't even have one in mind to get moving with surveys etc.

Ciderarmy1987

Get quotes of ones ASAP. decide who you want to use and then when you put in an offer and get it accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on the the EA

k0sh

Get three quotes asap. Consider using one that the EA recommends. Local ones are best, internet ones can be ok, but when you get into difficulties they can be a pain.

nirish

I'm guessing the quote isn't the final decision maker ?

What other questions should I be asking to help choose one ?

G_M

k0sh wrote: »

Get three quotes asap. Consider using one that the EA recommends. Local ones are best, internet ones can be ok, but when you get into difficulties they can be a pain.

NEVER use the one recommended by the EA.

1) the agent recommends cos he gets commission
2) it does NOT make things go 'more smoothly'
3) the EA works for the seller, not the buyer and is intersted only in getting the sale done

Find your own totally independant solicitor.

You can start looking now. Meet them. Get quotes & compare. Select one. Just do not instruct your chosen conveyancer till you are ready to go.

Read this for comparing quotes:

http://www.theadvisory.co.uk/conveyancing-quote.php

It can be helpful if they are local to you.
a) to get the quote, go in and talk to solicitor - you'll get a feel for what they are like
b) you can pop in to sign things without posting back and forth
c) if you hit a problem, or need something explaining later, you can pop in and talk face to face

If you are getting a mortgage, tell them who the lender is & check they are on the lender's panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

Yorkie1

I rang up 2 solicitors who were recommended by friends / colleagues. Asked them to provide me with a quote and to email me it.

There wasn't much in it money-wise, and neither had any extras added on, but I felt I could relate better to one of the solicitors I spoke to, and the receptionist in the other firm couldn't even answer the phone clearly (clearly this wasn't the deciding factor, but it helped a little!!).

TDPIX

We didn't even consider solicitors until after our offer was accepted and we'd obtained a DIP (which they requested to take the property off the market).

I feel we left it a bit late though (even though it was only 2-3 days after our offer was accepted that they took the property off the market).

Probably best to get some quotes now; it's one less thing to worry about when your offer gets accepted.

Goldiegirl

The point when you need to know what conveyancer you will using is when you make the full mortgage application.

This is because the conveyancer gets a copy of the mortgage offer, and not having a conveyancer would delay the mortgage offer.