Different solicitors for sale and purchase

sparkly_sun

Hi all,

I've had the sale agreed on my property and am using a solicitors recommended by the estate agents that I'm selling through. I've had an offer accepted on a property to move in to and instructed the same solicitor to deal with the purchase. They've sent the buyers questionnaire to me but I haven't sent it back yet as the mortgage is not complete and I don't want searches etc. to start until I know I can borrow on it (it's a weird property).

My mortgage broker has recommended another solicitor that charges £1000 less (!!!!) so it seems like a no brainier to change firms, but if I do so will it complicate the process to have one solicitor acting for sale and one acting for purchase? And if I bin off the first one will they make life difficult for me with the selling process?

Doozergirl

It will complicate the process with two. Think of the number of people involved in just your buying and selling, without a further chain.

Dump the expensive solicitor. Your EA will be disappointed. I doubt they will sacrifice their sale commission for the loss of a solicitor's referral, but if they are difficult, just exclude them from the process as far as you can. They aren't essential.

phill99

House moving is complicated as it is. You need one to do the lot or it becomes even more complicated. Check that the ones you are using are actually solicitors and not just lisenced conveyancers. The latter often only accept enquiries by email. You need to make sure you have a dedicated person, not just a random team of call handlers.

Thrugelmir

sparkly_sun wrote: »

My mortgage broker has recommended another solicitor that charges £1000 less (!!!!)

Why the difference? Are you comparing like for like. Or is one of the quotes omitting something.

deanos

is the cheaper quote not including moving tax ? (sorry cant remember correct name !)

Freecall

deanos wrote: »

'moving tax'

Brilliant, just what we need, another tax!

I am going to ask the next politician who knocks on my door what their position is on this tax and they don't promise to fight it all the way will refuse to give them my vote.

Shahni

Yes it'll make things more complicated and will probably take more time. I'd never recommend it, personally. Nor would I use the solicitors recommended by my estate agent without getting some quotes and recommendations and assuring myself independently that they are the best for the job. The estate agent probably gets a nice referral fee from their "recommended solicitor", of course they will send people there.

phill99 wrote: »

Check that the ones you are using are actually solicitors and not just lisenced conveyancers. The latter often only accept enquiries by email. You need to make sure you have a dedicated person, not just a random team of call handlers.

I agree on the latter point about "conveyancing call centres" where you never speak to the same person twice and noone knows anything about your transaction. But to clarify, there's nothing wrong with licensed conveyancers in general. They are regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers and are specialists in their field, often employed by solicitor firms. Some of them can be extremely competent with a lot of experience, more than a newly qualified solicitor.

deanos wrote: »

is the cheaper quote not including moving tax ? (sorry cant remember correct name !)

Stamp duty land tax?

G_M

1) why use a conveyancer 'recommended' by an estate agent who receives a commision for doing so? Choose your own.

2) why use a more expensive one over a cheaper one? (there are valid reasons, but do you know what they are?)

3) why complicate things (and usually add costs) by using two conveyancers?

4) always compare prices carefully. Not just the headline cost quoted, but examine what it includes, and excludes in the terms of business

5) how far has the 1st conveyancer got? Have you signed/returned their terms of business? What costs have they incurred already?

6) always chck the conveyancer is on your mortgage lender's panel

deanos

Shahni wrote: »

Yes it'll make things more complicated and will probably take more time. I'd never recommend it, personally. Nor would I use the solicitors recommended by my estate agent without getting some quotes and recommendations and assuring myself independently that they are the best for the job. The estate agent probably gets a nice referral fee from their "recommended solicitor", of course they will send people there.



I agree on the latter point about "conveyancing call centres" where you never speak to the same person twice and noone knows anything about your transaction. But to clarify, there's nothing wrong with licensed conveyancers in general. They are regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers and are specialists in their field, often employed by solicitor firms. Some of them can be extremely competent with a lot of experience, more than a newly qualified solicitor.



Stamp duty land tax?

Stamp duty, that's it ! :rotfl:

sparkly_sun

G_M wrote: »

1) why use a conveyancer 'recommended' by an estate agent who receives a commision for doing so? Choose your own.

Because I'm an idiot, basically

I was wrong with the price as didn't take into account VAT so it's about £700 difference between the two.

I think I'm just going to have to suck it up to avoid complications. I can't afford to risk not exchanging on the same day.

I've learnt a life lesson from all of this which is - Don't Be A Mug.

kingstreet

As the referral fee is normally about £250, an EA solicitor would have to be able to charge £250 less than the going rate for you to actually save money or perhaps break-even.

If they can achieve that, it's because they are a conveyancing warehouse where you will probably receive poor service or, and which is more likely, they have extra charges for everything such as completing SDLT return and acting for mortgage lender which many firms offer as part of their headline fee which you didn't properly compare.

Was talking about this earlier on a different issue;-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5216784