Finding a Conveyancing firm

khanji17

Where to look for conveyancing firm to deal with sale of current house as well as purchase of the next one?
Any recommendations?
Thanks

greatcrested

Local firm in your high  street.

Get quotes from 3.

biscan25

I used the online one recommended by Money Saving Expert: My home move conveyancing.
I know some dislike online outfits, but there were no issues with my conveyancer, maybe I got a good one.

MovingForwards

Email at least 3 local firms.
Provide location, rough price, whether house / flat, if freehold / leasehold, how much % your deposit is, if H2B equity loan is being used and how much, if H2B ISA or LISA is being used.
Ask for a quote of all costs for the proposed purchase.

When you know who your lender is, check the solicitor is on their panel of solicitors.

kasqueak

I used the comparison site recommended by MSE which was reallymoving. I also got quotes from a couple of local firms and one the EA recommended. I’m using an ‘online’ one I found through reallymoving who were competitively priced and have so far provided good service. It’s been the local solicitor who’s working on behalf of my vendors who have been awful so far! 

verybigchris

biscan25 said:

I used the online one recommended by Money Saving Expert: My home move conveyancing.
I know some dislike online outfits, but there were no issues with my conveyancer, maybe I got a good one.

Are you sure MSE recommended them? I'd be surprised if they were advising anyone to use a specific conveyancer, and can't find any reference to it. It wasn't one of those shonky Facebook ads with Martin's face on it, was it?

BTW, my vendor used that firm, and they were so utterly useless that twice they nearly caused the collapse of the sale.

dmvillaret

I thought I should write about my experience with
MyHomeMoveConveyacing - Premier Property Lawyers, both as a seller and buyer

1. Communication problems:

   • delayed responses, unanswered calls and emails, and a lack of transparency in providing updates about the progress of my case
   • the poor communication caused frustration and anxiety during both the conveyancing process.

2. Lack of professionalism:

   • there were instances where my phone calls were met with curt responses, dismissive attitudes towards my concerns, and failure to prioritise important issues
   • there is no sense of urgency
   • my purchase had 70 people, from the team, recorded on the eWay site.

3. Delays and missed deadlines:

   • significant delays and missed deadlines occurred which caused inconvenience and financial output.
   • the impact of these delays was felt by all parties involved - I moved out of my home before my purchase was completed to avoid losing the sale, which took 7 months. My buyer's solicitors have complained of excessively long time frames and repeated requests for enquiries already addressed.

4. Resolution attempts:

   • I tried to speak with a 'team manager' to address the issues but was unable to
   • the complaint's department responded to my concerns with an automated email advising a response time of 28 days.

5. Lessons learned:

• from my personal experience, I would not recommend this firm but would advise using a small firm where people are accountable, and respect prompt response times to enquiries and queries. 

fiish

I'm using one I found on reallymoving, as well. I did email some local firms for comparison quotes, but went for one of the reallymoving quotes in the end. It was the cheapest quote from what looked like a smaller, independent firm.

They're very quick to respond to emails (I've not had to wait more than one working day for a response of some kind, if they don't have an answer right away they'll still come back telling me to wait). They've made some minor mistakes (like misspelling our names on forms) but they got those sorted in under a day. They very promptly did searches once instructed, and turned searches into enquiries fast, as well. As far as I can tell, they have not contributed any significant delays.

On another hand, I feel this firm I'm using are more suited to experienced buyers/sellers, who have some idea what to expect during the process. For example, they forgot to send the TA10 (fixtures and fittings form) in the bundle with the initial report, draft contract, and TA6 (property questionnaire), but when I prodded them for it they sent it over the same day. They also sent over the entire mortgage offer pack the lender had sent them, including the forms only they were meant to be filling, without any clear indication which pages were the mortgage deed we were supposed to sign. Whereas with our previous purchase we were sent hardcopy forms to sign that had little post-it notes saying 'sign here' stuck on them in the appropriate places 😂

Would I recommend? Yes, with the caveat that if you're a FTB, do read up on the conveyancing process so you have some idea what they're meant to be doing.

Martico

Ask local friends for their recommendations. Pick the one that sounds best. Local is good, top rec is good.

(Edit: local is not essential if they're good and you have a good enough "in" to give you confidence in both their ability and willingness to communicate.
Just my experience.)

Vannaa

I did what lots of people on here say you mustn't do and went with the conveyancers linked to the Estate Agents. Their quote was comparable with other firms and so far it's all gone very smoothly. The only hold up has been getting info from the seller, which we now have.

LicoriceStick

I've used three different conveyancers in the past year or so (all local).  The first one sold our house and I found them poor, slow to respond and not fully explaining things (we hadn't sold a house before).  The second was for a house purchase.  I found them equally as poor - slow to respond to emails and again didn't explain things fully or clearly.  Somewhere along the line there was a complete !!!!!!-up with regard to completion date.  We were given a date, had funds and everything in place and the day before completion we were told it wouldn't be happening (that it would never have been possible on that date because there were complications further along the chain).  Purchase subsequently fell through for various reasons.

This time around we are going with the conveyancer recommended by the EA (he used them for his house purchase).  Figured they can't be any worse than the last two and price was comparable to others.  So far they've been more efficient and quicker to respond to queries, usually within a couple of hours.  Just had word from EA though that solicitors are super busy at the moment with reduced manpower so completions are being moved back as a result.  Sigh.