When to find a solicitor

tibbles209

Perhaps a bit of a silly question, but this will be my first foray into the house buying process...

My husband and I are going to view a house next weekend. We absolutely love the look of this house, it ticks every single box for us. Assuming we end up still loving it after seeing it in real life we are very likely to want to put an offer in.
When reading guides about house buying, they seem to often place the finding a solicitor step before the house hunting step, but I don't entirely understand how this works. Do I just organise an initial meeting with a solicitor so we are on their books and they are waiting in the wings to act if we instruct them to place an offer on a house? Or do people usually just find a solicitor once they have found a house they want to offer on?

We are in Scotland if that makes any difference.
Thanks!

csgohan4

Find a solicitor who is on the panel of your mortgage lender if you need a mortgage when you get an offer, otherwise if no mortgage needed, you can appoint one on offer of the house.

what ever you do, don't employ one by the Estate agents, you will regret it

Tom99

You can find one now or wait until you have agreed a purchase.
What I do is email 4 or 5 local firms and ask for a fee quote.
The speed at which they respond and how thoroughly they set out all of the individual components of what you will pay them is usually enough to narrow it down to a choice of 1 or 2.

tibbles209

Thank you both! That is really helpful.

I have a mortgage in principle with my own bank for the sake of being able to put in an offer, but was planning on finding a broker to help me figure out where to actually apply for a mortgage as my own bank is unlikely to offer the best deal. I would presumably need to have had an offer accepted on a house before I could apply for an actual mortgage deal though, wouldn't I? In which case I won't know which solicitors are in my mortgage lenders panel at the time of offering.

I may well be getting the order of this all mixed up, it's all very new to me. Thanks for helping to keep me right.

Mutton_Geoff

tibbles209 wrote: »

I may well be getting the order of this all mixed up, it's all very new to me. Thanks for helping to keep me right.

The advantage of having already vetted and obtained quotes for a solicitor is that you will be demonstrating yourself to be organised to the vendor and their agents. It also acts as a good excuse to fend off the agents usual hard sell to use their own (commission based) recommendation.

tibbles209

Thanks everyone, that does all make sense. I have emailed a few nearby solicitors asking for a breakdown of their fees, so hopefully by the time it comes to putting an offer in we can give the illusion of knowing what we are doing

AdrianC

When you find the house, and have an offer accepted on it, that offer only becomes anything approaching formal when the "memorandum of sale" is issued by the EA.

That includes... your solicitor's details.

G_M

I like to meet my solicitor ad get a feel for how helpful they will be. Drop in to several local firms for a chat. Check they are on your lender's panel, and get quotes.


Then you can choose based on price and approachability. You don't formally 'instruct' them till you've found a property, but having chosen means a) less panic later and b) you demonstrate to the seller you are serious and organised

tibbles209

Thanks for the further replies

A couple of you have now said I should make sure that the solicitor is on my lender's panel.
I thought that I needed to have had an offer accepted on a house before I could apply for a mortgage? So I would need a solicitor first to put in the offer, and then would apply for a mortgage with a lender once my offer was accepted. Do you just try to guess which lender you will end up going for? Or am I getting this mixed up?

davidmcn

tibbles209 wrote: »

I thought that I needed to have had an offer accepted on a house before I could apply for a mortgage? So I would need a solicitor first to put in the offer, and then would apply for a mortgage with a lender once my offer was accepted. Do you just try to guess which lender you will end up going for? Or am I getting this mixed up?

You'd normally have a reasonable idea of where you're getting your mortgage from before you put in an offer. So probably better you speak to a broker first if you want to shop around for mortgages.

In practice though any busy conveyancing firm will be on the panels of all the main lenders, you're only likely to be caught out by "not being on the panel" if you go for a more obscure lender (or a smaller firm of solicitors). And not disastrous if you are, just a bit of a delay.

davidmcn

tibbles209 wrote: »

So I would need a solicitor first to put in the offer...

Aha! Scottish alarm bells ringing, confirmed by the OP's previous posts - you are still thinking of buying in Scotland? You need to say that in questions here, otherwise everyone tends to assume we're talking about England.

Contrary to some of the advice above, you will be wanting to instruct a solicitor before you put in an offer, though I think you've already figured that out. And solicitors are (usually) happy to offer preliminary advice about how the process works, rather than being someone you only consult after being led up the garden path by estate agents etc.