Buying and selling AND relocating - best to use the same or different conveyancers?

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

We are about to put our house on the market and will be relocating to the other side of the country; most likely Wales but possibly Dumfries and Galloway.

This will be my first house sale, so that side of things is all new to me. Is it best to use the same conveyancer for the buying and selling? Or in my situation would it be better to use two separate ones, in particular so that the one on the buying side is familiar with the area and local to it?

What are the pros and cons?

And is there much difference in costs between the two approaches?

Many thanks

davidmcn

You haven't told us which country you're selling in - bear in mind you're unlikely to find any residential conveyancers who are qualified to handle both Scottish and English/Welsh law. Also bear in mind the mismatch in systems e.g. you'd be expected to "exchange" at an earlier stage in Scotland than would be the case in England/Wales.

There are some advantages in local knowledge, more important for your purchase, but if you're staying within the same jurisdiction I think just use the same firm.

TBagpuss

I'd say that using the same for both is normally going to be best, but if you are buying in Scotland, where the system is different, you will ned a Scottish solicitor for that half of the transaction and will need to ensure that you are clear about when you become legally committed to the purchase / sale , so you don't end up committed to buying even if your sale falls through!

Tunstallstoven

Thanks for the quick replies. Sorry about that - I'm in East Anglia.

The new house is most likely to be in Wales, but D+G has a small chance, and if that were to happen I think I'd need to learn a lot about the Scottish system in a short amount of time!