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Buying a house, do I really need a solicitor?
monkey74
Posts: 42 Forumite
I am buying a house from my good friend of many years on Monday morning at the land registry office in Durham. It is a cash purchase, Freehold property in Chilton, all the searches are done, there is no mortgage or estate agent involved. Is it really necessary to involve a solicitor given the prices they charge?
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Comments
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I would, mostly as a house purchase is a useful trigger to do a full legal overhaul - Will & life insurance for example, and, while it's easy to say "all done" - a solicitor will check.
Many friendships can't take the weight of a house purchase - I really would leave as much as I could to the professionals in case anything "emerged". Oh and it never hurts to have the money trail bombproofed, if only to squash flat any humourist who might suggest that having that much cash was questionable.
Yes, they cost money, but the peace of mind they can bring is usually worth it. As whatever they miss you can sue them for, whereas if you've missed out something, Whoops.0 -
If you're completing it on Monday and have done the searches, why at this stage are you thinking of getting a solicitor involved?0
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we are using the same searches from when my friend bought it, nothing has changed since0
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Apart from anything else, it's kind of short notice for a solicitor to do it all in the 3 working days between now and completion.0
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Have a read of the land registry form and accompanying guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/registered-titles-whole-transfer-tr1
For example note from the guidance that you will need a witness to the signature, and it seems that land registry staff won't act as witness.
Using a conveyancer is not mandatory but given that houses are worth a substantial sum of money using one may be wise.0 -
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