Same solicitor for buying and selling for a long move???

Bill23h

Hi.
I found an old (closed) thread on here where the question of whether to use different solicitors to handle the sale of one property and the purchase of another was discussed.
The general consensus was that you should use the same one, of course.
What I'd like to ask is - does this still apply if you're moving to another part of the country?
If I was selling in Manchester (say) and looking to buy a house in Devon, would it still be possible or desirable to use the same solicitor or would I be better advised to have one at each end?
Anyone done this who can offer any advice?

rosie383

Most transactions are done online or by post, so I would think it is not an issue. Our conveyancer is in Liverpool and has been very efficient so far and we are both buying and selling hundreds of miles away from them.

Rollinghills

We are only buying but my solicitor isn't local and I have no issues with that. Perhaps choose one local to where you are buying, I'm sure they can handle a distance sale.

G_M

I prefer to use a local solicitor I can visit if I have questions /problems, and to collect/deliver paperwork without using post.

There is a marginal advantage in using a solicitor local to a property you are buying, due to his knowledge of the locality and potential local issues - but this is debatable. as others have said, many conveyancers are now online and could be in...... Bangalore.

There is a definate advantage in using the same soliitor for buying/selling as coordination is easier - it cuts one link out of the communication chain.

Bill23h

Thanks but I was thinking more about local knowledge and contacts. I will definitely use a local solicitor to sell my current place, but would he have enough knowledge of the area I was moving to, in terms of searches, local authority procedures etc?

Rollinghills

I'd do the opposite, for selling why do you need local knowledge? I think it would only matter for buying if at all.

TBagpuss

A good solicitor will have no trouble at all dealing with a property out of their local area. Local knowledge is handy for knowing things such as how quick (or slow) a specific local council is likely to be with their searches, how untrustworthy particular local agents are and therefore how seriously to take what they say about what their clients will or won't do etc, but the legal process should not be an issue at all.

My solicitor, who did my most recent sale and purchase for me, also did my parents last move, and the last moves for each of my sisters, and the probate sale of my late grandmother's home. Other than the house my parents sold, none of the properties involved were local.

casper_g

We used a solicitor local to the property we were selling, for two reasons - we'd used the same one when we bought that house, and they'd done a good job, and it was convenient when we had to go in and sign paperwork (as we were using HSBC for our mortgage we had to actually go into the office to sign the mortgage deed witnessed by the solicitor).