Conveyancer advice

JackRouge

Hi,

Currently going through our first property purchase. Had an offer accepted and valuation is booked for Monday from Nationwide. We've still not got a solicitor sorted and am now wracking my brains where to go. Initially I was looking at Lambert Pugh, but after reading a lot on this forum it seems like a bit of a no go and I guess cheapest isn't always best despite the reviews on reallymoving. There's an asset management co. dealing with the property on behalf of the family (Movewithus) who have offered us their in-house solicitors. They've quoted me £1100 which is more than I was initially expecting. Not sure whether it'd be a good idea to go through them.

Anyone got any recommendations? Is a local one a good idea if possible? I'm in Leicester.

Cheers.

sleepymans

No No No!...use your family solicitor ,
or one recommened by trusted friends/family

Southend1

Don't use the recommended one. They recommend it because they are paid a referral fee not because it is good. My advice would be to use a specialist conveyancing firm, not a general solicitor. Preferably one with a local office that you can easily call into to sign documents or chase things up. Speak with them first and check you are confident about their ability and service level.

JackRouge

Yeh that's what I was coming around to. Obviously I read the MSE guide and saw that it doesn't necessarily need to be local, but by the sounds of it it might be a lot easier if they are.

G_M

Walk down the local High Street (or use yellow pages).

Walk into 3 different offices and ask to see a conveyancing solicitor
* get a full writen quote
* ask if it will be him/her who deals with your purchase
* decide if you feel comfortable with him/her

Choose one of them

kingstreet

How have you submitted a mortgage application without completing the solicitor's details?

JackRouge

No idea! Going through a broker. He did ask who I was contemplating (LP) so maybe he's put them down. Hope it's not too late to change.

smifffy1989

Definitely avoid the larger conveyancing farm type firms. Use a local high street firm who you can phone and speak to the actual person doing the work.

Ours saved us money in terms of knowing the area and what searches they needed to do. A large firm based miles away from where you are buying would insist on them all.

kingstreet

JackRouge wrote: »

No idea! Going through a broker. He did ask who I was contemplating (LP) so maybe he's put them down. Hope it's not too late to change.

Yes. You can't submit the application without entering details of a solicitor which is on Nationwide's panel.

Unitoons

Definitely pick a solicitor who is on your mortgage company's panel otherwise you will have ridiculous and seemingly endless delays as there is suddenly an extra solicitor in the loop!

My seller didn't do this and it has easily added 4 weeks to the whole process. The most frustrating part is that because that solicitor works for the mortgage company, no-one but them can chase them - and we all know how much solicitors need chasing!

I have been waiting to exchange for nearly 2 weeks - all the paperwork is done and has been passed the mort co's solicitor but it has been sat on their desk for well over a week waiting to be checked and approved so funds can be released!

TBagpuss

A local, high street solicitor is likely to be easier to deal with, and as Smiffy says, they will know the area so will have a better idea as to which searches will be needed, they will know the agents and who/when to put pressure on.

Phone up, ask for a quote and to check they are on Nationwide's panel and let the broker and the lender and agents know as soon as you can, who will be acting for you. I would suggest that you call the broker in the mean time to tell him/her you will *not* be going with the agents recommendation.