Solicitor

lion-o

I'm a first time buyer and was wondering about a solicitor.

When I have found the house I want to buy, to I need to find my own solicitor to sort through the process? If so, can anyone recommend a good place to find one or will looking through the Yellow Pages do?

Also, me and my partner are not married, will a written agreement need to be produced before we purchase a house together? If so, would the solicitor do this?

Thanks

Mr_Moo_2

Anyone else you know bought a house recently? Personal recommendation is best. Failing that search on the web, contact some local conveyancers, get some quotes, ask about the level of support / contact they will provide, who will deal with your case - a named individual is a good idea, check their opening hours, how they will contact you, how you can contact them - all the common sense stuff you can think of.

A good conveyancer is well worth it and the cheapest may not be the best, so don't go on price alone.

NervousHomeowner

Yes, once you have found a property and had your offer accepted, you will then need to instruct a solicitor. Sometimes the EA you are buying the house through or your mortgage broker will suggest solicitors but beware that this can be a double edged sword. Personally, I preferred to find my own solicitor. You can look through Yellow Pages or use https://www.reallymoving.com which will give you a few quotes. Alternatively, see if you can get recommendations from other people who live in the area - usually relatives or friends will be able to recommend someone. You should obtain a number of quotes (usually 3 or 4) and then go with who you can afford and who you feel most comfortable with. Remember that you're going to be calling them throughout the process so make sure that they are efficient, return calls/emails quickly and you feel comfortable with them. Make sure the quotes you're receiving are complete.

With regards to your partner, it is possible to draw up a Deed of Trust to make sure that if you split up, your interests will be protected. For example, a Deed of Trust will be able to document what happens in the event that you make a profit or a loss on the house. It can also protect your deposit too, so that you both get back proportionately what you put in. To give an idea of what they do, my partner and I have one which says that in the event we break up & sell the house, I get back my deposit and then any profit is split 60/40 to my boyfriend.

grifferz

lion-o wrote: »

When I have found the house I want to buy, to I need to find my own solicitor to sort through the process?

Yes. You will want to get started on getting quotes for this around the same time that you feel you are ready to start making offers, as you won't want any delay. Basically as soon as you have an offer accepted they will ask for the contact details of your solicitor.

It is really hard to find a good conveyancer without personal recommendations, so try your best to find a recommendation. Trusted reviews are quite hard to come by for any given high street solicitor, and without these you're left to get a bunch of quotes, pick from the middle and hope for the best.

If you use an independent mortgage broker or financial adviser then they may be able to recommend a solicitor for you as they should be fairly impartial. Don't ask the estate agent as they will just point you to a firm that gives them a kickback.

Have a think about whether you want to use a local solicitor who you can meet with and travel to easily to drop off paperwork etc., or if you will use an "online conveyancer" who could be based anywhere and you will interact with them only by email, phone and postal mail.

The "online" ones will generally be a fair bit cheaper and are not necessarily always worse.

lion-o wrote: »

Also, me and my partner are not married, will a written agreement need to be produced before we purchase a house together? If so, would the solicitor do this?

It is up to you. It is probably a good idea if there is an imbalance in how the purchase has been or will be financed.

You can buy as either joint tenants or tenants in common, and beyond deciding between these nothing forces you to have any further agreement and both ways have default outcomes.

Joint tenants own the entire property jointly, and if either party dies then the other party takes on full ownership bypassing probate (i.e. wills). Whoever dies last gets the lot, in effect. Each party is entitled to half of everything.

Tenants in common each own distinct shares in a property, with the default being 50/50. On death a tenant's share is part of their estate and will pass according to the rules of inheritance. On sale each tenant is entitled to a proportion according to their share. If the shares are not to be equal and/or if there are to be other rules on how the proceeds are divided then this would normally be done with a deed of trust.

A deed of trust can be very simple or very thorough. At its most basic it might say who owns what percentage of the property and how the proceeds will be split when there is a sale, often taking into account the scenarios of sale at profit and sale at loss.

A more thorough one might even go so far as to specify who takes care of household bills, rules on guests staying, circumstances under which the property can be sold, and so on. It would be up to you how detailed to make it.

Your solicitor will ask you whether you want to buy as joint tenants or tenants in common, and should be able to draw up a deed of trust for you for between £100 and £150.

If you do go for TIC you should also both think about getting wills drawn up or existing ones updated.