Selling a house only, online conveyancer or not?

JamesN

Hi,

As title suggests, we are selling and moving into rented accomodation.

EA is steering me towards local as online can be slow.

But given its just a sale I'd like to think the risk is less. If it saves be £500 on fees, I don't mind it taking a week longer.

Is he just trying to get some commission from a referral and actually its fine to go online in this situation?

Thanks in advance

borkid

I sold and bought ( didn't plan to like you were planning to go into rented but then a place turned up at the right time) via an online conveyancer 8 years ago. They responded quicker than our buyers and sellers 'bricks and mortar' solicitors and kept us informed every step of the way, responded to emails very quickly within an hour or less. At one point the person dealing with our case went on holiday but they contacted us before hand and explained who they were handing us over to along with the new person's contact details.

RelievedSheff

We used an online conveyancer for our first purchase and they were hopeless. They turned a simple transaction into a nightmare.

Our most recent purchase in April we used a local solicitors and while they did cost more they did the job quickly and efficiently and had us in our new home in under four weeks.

We will never use online again. The extra hassle just isn't worth the cost saving.

VincentVincent

Not every online conveyancer is like the other. Some are conveyor belt customer service operations where you may never speak to the same person - your case is dealt with by various agents in basically a call centre and they charge little. Others work like more traditional solicitors except they can do everything remotely and thus they accept clients from all over - more expensive but not as much as brick and mortar.

I've had experience with the latter and they were fine. Not terrible, not great. A good middle ground.

G_M

The EA probably gets a commission....


Online can be fine when things gosmoothly. I'd always be happier knowing I can pop in for a chat/explanation if anything crops up though, so


Go into 3 local firms and have a chat to see which is helpful/approachable as well as a decent price.


Whoever you choose (but especially online)make sure you compare like-for-like quotes: Some online outfits exclude certain elements which are then aded as 'extras'......so that cheap quote might end up more than you expected.

JamesN

G_M wrote: »

The EA probably gets a commission....


Online can be fine when things gosmoothly. I'd always be happier knowing I can pop in for a chat/explanation if anything crops up though, so


Go into 3 local firms and have a chat to see which is helpful/approachable as well as a decent price.


Whoever you choose (but especially online)make sure you compare like-for-like quotes: Some online outfits exclude certain elements which are then aded as 'extras'......so that cheap quote might end up more than you expected.

Thanks. I just came out with it and asked them and they do have an agreement with the EA.

Yeah, that is what I was worried about, the 'fixed fee' not being the total bill. Bit naughty of them really but I guess that is how they make their buck.

When we purchased I used an online one for the purchase (first time buyers and had help to buy) and they were a bit slow, but otherwise ok. If it takes a week longer but is £400 cheaper, I'd rather the cash in my pocket!

I've been looking at one online that has good reviews. That said, bricks and mortar might not be any better just because they are charging more.

I'll do some googling to see if any nearby are decent.

kerri_gt

One of our local bricks and mortar ones didn't even bother responding to my request for a quote, the other was nearly three times the price of the online one we used.

Our online one was fab, 1st Property Lawyers I think they were, middle of the road cost wise but really responsive and helpful.