Scotland - noting interest but different solicitor for offer?

liviboy

Hi all,

Asking on behalf of my BIL (FTB with his wife).

In Scotland for the legal differences :-)

He’s found a property he likes and wants to offer on. However he has a meeting with an independent, whole market, broker on Friday.

**some** lenders offer free standard legal services...

So...the question is, as he’s keen on the property, he would like to note his interest. Any property solicitor can do this for him...the question is, what if then the best lender for him happens to be one offering free standard legals? Does he need to use the same solicitor he used to note his interest to make his offer OR does the original solicitor have any sort of claim because they acted for him first?

Weird question but I said I’d ask on here :-)

Thanks in advance

davidmcn

No need to make an offer via the solicitor who noted interest, but it would make sense not to switch at the last minute - you might get very short notice of a closing date, and then not be able to offer in time because you haven't gone through the new client bureaucracy of the new solicitors.

Also bear in mind whether he actually wants to use the "free" solicitors, as their service standards will tend to reflect the bargain-basement price at which they've signed up to the lender. And I suspect there'll be plenty of unavoidable non-free supplements to the "standard" free service.

googler

As David puts it, he will have to go "through the new client bureaucracy" of each solicitor he hires.

Any solicitor could note interest, but I doubt they will without actually having your BiL sign on the dotted line as a customer.

If he decides to change after that, the original sol's T&Cs may demand payment for work done up till then. Might work out cheaper picking one and sticking with them

DottieDam

The solicitor we used put our offer in before we signed on as a client and didn't charge for putting in offers (not sure if it would be same for note of interest). Sounds like an extra layer of complication though.

liviboy

Thanks all for your replies.

I think he's going to just wait until his meeting with broker tomorrow before doing anything just to keep things the same.

Thanks again.

System

if he uses the lenders solicitor then surely he's tied into that lender which could cause issues further down the line if there is something about the property that particular lender doesn't like - if you use an independent solicitor he can utilise the whole market and switch lenders if there is an issue with a survey or something further down the line

missile

The mortgage provider's solicitor is unlikely to know the local area.
I would always my own local solicitor, who will be better able to advise.