How do you select the best solicitor/conveyancer for FTB?

OhThatGuy

Hello all,

Just recently had an offer accepted on our first house. We are now currently looking for the best solicitor/conveyancer.

I have just a few questions and would be really grateful if you could all help?

• Should I be looking for a solicitor or a conveyancer?
• What is the best way to find a good value solicitor/conveyancer?
• How much should we be looking to pay for a property in the south (Berkshire) for a property around £260k?
• Has anyone used the online solicitors for a purchase? They appear to be much more affordable but I don't know if it will slow things down. We are buying an empty property as first-time buyers so a speedy exchange would be great.

If anyone has an idea of anything I might have missed that would be really helpful too!

Thank you! :money:

Marky4040

Well a solicitor can carryout the conveyancing process and often firms have solicitors which hold additional conveyancing qulifications. Where this becomes useful is if there are any issues with property tiltles, search results, lender requirements that sort of thing. If (and it's a big "if") everything goes smoothly, your bog standard solicitor can complete the process just fine.


Finding a good one? word of mouth or review sites for conveyancing. We had to choose one which was approved by HSBC, we found them online read the reviews, they had a fixed fee and a breakdown of all disbursements and everything worked out fine.


How much to pay? varies alot i'm afraid but like i said fixed fees are a good option, fee goes up normally from 300k then again at 500K etc


There's no reason why you can't use online as all our communication with ours was via email and post

G_M

I'm a great believer in the benefit of being able to go in and speak to your conveyancer face to face eg if issues arise or you don'tunderstand something.


It also can speed things up if you can sign documents and then hand deliver same/next day.


I'm also wary of many online cheap quotes, which often exclude aspects of the process which then cost extra (hidden in terms and conditions small print).


Having said that, some online firms are cheaper,and when things go smoothly, phone and email works well.


But my advice? Pop into 3 firms' offices in your high street and ask to speak to a solicitor. You'll soon get a feel for how approachable they are and can consider that as well as the price quoted.

kinger101

(1) Don't use anyone the EA recommends*
(2) A fully qualified solicitor will be better positioned to handle anything out of the ordinary.
(3) Most of the online firms have bad reputations. Deservedly.
(4) No matter whom you appoint, expect to be frustrated at some point by what amounts to @rse-covering. Endless letters about a tree nobody cares about for example.
(5) It's worth asking friends and family for recommendations.
(6) If you have a mortgage, you need to check they're on your lender's panel.

For SE England for a freehold property, you're probably looking at about £800-£1200 including VAT, searches, ID checks etc - but excluding SDLT. A bit more for a leasehold. They all tend to price a bit differently so check what's included, and what isn't.

I'd happily pay toward the higher end for one that didn't make my p1ss boil.

*99% likely they're getting a kickback. I did know of one who recommended a good local solicitor and got no commission. Presumably, it dawned on them that spending hours making phone calls to numpty convenyancing monkeys to find out why everything has stalled wasn't worth £50.

System

My tip: make sure who ever it is agrees in writing to send you any information they receive AS SOON AS they receive it. That way you can keep on top of everything yourself, even if they are useless.

TiberUK

We are FTB's. We are using a proper solicitor, one that my parents have used in the past. Aside from doing a good job with the paperwork, my mum was pleased that she was always very easy to get in touch with - this was something that is important for us.

A broker previously recommended that we use a specific firm and offered to set us up with a 'special deal' -- which was more than twice the quote our solicitor came back with :rotfl: - always shop around for quotes. We found one with both a family recommendation and a competitive price

Thrugelmir

Use a solicitors with a bespoke conveyancing department. Then there'll always be someone around to deal with your case.

Talk to friends and work colleagues. Recommendations for someone local. Being able to pop in and discuss is priceless.

G_M

Diocletian_II wrote: »

My tip: make sure who ever it is agrees in writing to send you any information they receive AS SOON AS they receive it. That way you can keep on top of everything yourself, even if they are useless.

Have you ever managed to get a conveyancer to agree to this? I'd be surprised!


Most conveyancers work on their case-loads in turn, prioritising according to where in the process each is. They don't pick up a file just because a letter, search or document came in that morning.


They'll usually wait till all the searches are back, for example, and then read through the file in its entirety interpreting seaches etc in light of the rest of the file, and then forward the documents all together to the client along with covering letter/explanation.


It's pointless them just forwarding "any information they receive AS SOON AS they receive it." unless they've reviewed it themselves.


They can't comment on it or advise you if they've not reviewed it.


And reviewing each document one-by-one is poor use of their time and overall would just slow them down further!

PasturesNew

Pick a local one that has easy access for you to visit, to collect/drop off documents and to go and sign.

Beyond that.... few people have much actual experience, so recommendations are just "I used these once and it didn't go horribly wrong". My local Facebook group has people who often ask and the one I am using is invariably the one people suggest is good ... but I picked them just because their quote was cheap enough and I could physically go there. Most aren't bad.

As FTBs you really need somebody close to your daily location.