What came first, chicken or egg, mortgage or solicitor...

SunnyCat

We have had our offer accepted and I am trying to choose a solicitor to get things started. But I understand that I need to make sure that the solicitor is on our lender's panel.

Does that mean we need to pick a mortgage first? We have AIP from first direct (our bank, who doesn't deal with brokers) but have been also planning to work with a broker to get comparison... But it sounds like this is something that takes a while and I would like to choose a solicitor today or tomorrow.

Should I just ditch the broker, go with fd, and get a solicitor that's on their panel? Is my other option waiting for days to compare mortgage deals and only choose solicitor then?

Thanks in advance!!!

[Deleted User]

Both the chicken and broker would come first.

ACG

Broker, Lender, Solicitor.

There is no harm having an idea of solicitor you want to use. We regularly speak to people who know who they want to use. Providing it is not a small one man band down a back street, they are usually accepted by many lender.

davidmcn

Any solicitors firm with a reasonable-sized conveyancing department is likely to be on the panel of mainstream lenders, so I wouldn't get overly concerned about that aspect unless you're going with an "odd" lender or are keen to use a two-man-band law firm.