Is conveyancing extra slow at the moment?

Victorng

Currently purchasing a leasehold flat with no mortgage, no chain, no local authority search, still taking 3 months with no exchange and completion date set yet. Solicitor is quite slow and needs constant chasing. It costs £1,300 plus VAT for legal fees (excluding other fees such as searches).

TBG01

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. 

Just exactly what qualifications do you think Solicitors have? You do know you're looking at a minimum of 6 years to become a fully qualified Solicitor?

What's your thoughts on labour charges set by electricians, mechanics, etc? Is that okay for their level of qualification? 

Hdot26

Another month later, all enquiries answered, reviewed and contracts returned, but still not exchanged. It’s been six months now. Debating whether to pull out as there is no communication from the buyer’s solicitor and the buyer repeatedly says we hope to exchange this week (has said this for the last two weeks).

Gavin83

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. They demand it because they can with people who are in the do-do and have to pay. It also provides people with a level of indemnity  It's not what their time is actually worth, but it certainly goes to their heads to think so.

Then don't use a solicitor. You could always do the work yourself if it's that easy.

steampowered

TBG01 said:

Just exactly what qualifications do you think Solicitors have? You do know you're looking at a minimum of 6 years to become a fully qualified Solicitor?

What's your thoughts on labour charges set by electricians, mechanics, etc? Is that okay for their level of qualification? 

Very few of the people working within conveyancing firms are actually solicitors. It is more likely that you get a paralegal within a team, supervised by one solicitor. 

teachfast

Gavin83 said:

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. They demand it because they can with people who are in the do-do and have to pay. It also provides people with a level of indemnity  It's not what their time is actually worth, but it certainly goes to their heads to think so.

Then don't use a solicitor. You could always do the work yourself if it's that easy.

Or expect those who are trained and paid to do the job they profess to do for you? 

Slithery

teachfast said:

Gavin83 said:

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. They demand it because they can with people who are in the do-do and have to pay. It also provides people with a level of indemnity  It's not what their time is actually worth, but it certainly goes to their heads to think so.

Then don't use a solicitor. You could always do the work yourself if it's that easy.

Or expect those who are trained and paid to do the job they profess to do for you? 

But they are doing the job you're paying them for. No solicitor is going to guarantee a timescale as 90% of the information they need comes from 3rd parties over which they have no control.

teachfast

Slithery said:

teachfast said:

Gavin83 said:

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. They demand it because they can with people who are in the do-do and have to pay. It also provides people with a level of indemnity  It's not what their time is actually worth, but it certainly goes to their heads to think so.

Then don't use a solicitor. You could always do the work yourself if it's that easy.

Or expect those who are trained and paid to do the job they profess to do for you? 

But they are doing the job you're paying them for. No solicitor is going to guarantee a timescale as 90% of the information they need comes from 3rd parties over which they have no control.

Not in this particular case they are not it seems. 

Thrugelmir

teachfast said:

Slithery said:

teachfast said:

Gavin83 said:

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. They demand it because they can with people who are in the do-do and have to pay. It also provides people with a level of indemnity  It's not what their time is actually worth, but it certainly goes to their heads to think so.

Then don't use a solicitor. You could always do the work yourself if it's that easy.

Or expect those who are trained and paid to do the job they profess to do for you? 

But they are doing the job you're paying them for. No solicitor is going to guarantee a timescale as 90% of the information they need comes from 3rd parties over which they have no control.

Not in this particular case they are not it seems. 

Your continual repetitive posts suggest it's every single transaction. 

When there's at least one other story for which we've no knowledge. People are great actors and liars when it suits them. Personal interests come first where property transactions are involved. 

Gavin83

teachfast said:

Gavin83 said:

teachfast said:

Tiglet2 said:

Swash said:

TBagpuss said:

teachfast said:

Greed has made them take on more work than they can deal with, so they do the last thing they were sat on for. Must be a horribly stressful way to work. 

It's not greed (or at least not on the part of the lawyers!) It's more that the demand for cheap conveyancing means that the only way to make it viable to carry out is to deal with large volumes. If you want more attention from your conveyancer you need to be willing to pay for their time, rather than a low fixed fee.

Right now, you've got the perfect storm of more people than usual seeking to move because of the stamp duty holiday, combined with a lot of people working from home which slows things down.

I see this a lot on this forum. As someone who is currently 7 months into what should have been a simple conveyancing process, if my solicitor gave me a heads up that they were going to be painfully slow and uncommunicative, then I would have gladly paid double to get it over the line. The problem is, they don't tell you. So how are we supposed to know that when we sign the dotted line? 

The fees they charge would be a good clue or a recommendation from a friend who has used the solicitor and been happy with the service.  Also, bear in mind, no solicitor can guarantee speed, since they rely on third parties to provide essential information, nor do they know in advance what legal issues may be discovered during the process. 

Solicitors would normally charge around £200 per hour or more for their time.  Every time you telephoned or they wrote to you, they would be adding that to their fees. 

A "fixed fee" for conveyancing that can take months to reach completion is operating under very fine margins and so the client contact is minimal. 

The problem is that clients do not want to pay the kind of money that makes hand-holding, being on the other end of the phone in an instant and available for advice whenever you need it, possible.

Consumers have driven the price down, but the result is firms with far too many clients than they can cope with and many unqualified staff doing the admin.   The solicitor in charge of your file, as well as hundreds of other files, will only look at the file at key stages during the process.  While they are waiting for something from a third party, the file will remain in the pending pile, to be chased periodically.

And sticking to this position just further damages the reputation of the profession. £200 is far, far too much money for the level of qualification required. They demand it because they can with people who are in the do-do and have to pay. It also provides people with a level of indemnity  It's not what their time is actually worth, but it certainly goes to their heads to think so.

Then don't use a solicitor. You could always do the work yourself if it's that easy.

Or expect those who are trained and paid to do the job they profess to do for you? 

Ultimately with everything in life (way beyond just legal council) people have 3 options:

1) Pay top dollar and get top levels of service.
2) Pay the minimum possible and get the minimum possible service.
3) Do it yourself.

People often want to pay the prices of option 2 but with the service of option 1 and that often just doesn’t work.

With conveyancing people often pay a small fixed fee and in return get average service and most of the work done by paralegals. If you want rapid service, a solicitor on the end of the phone and them to do 100% of the work then pay for it but it’ll cost several times as much.