Online conveyancer v Local high street conveyancer

Nova1307

Hi all, 
I am selling my property in London and ran a search on moneysupermarket a few weeks ago and found several options offering conveyancing services (property sale only) for £870 including VAT. Convey Law was one of the options and the reviews on trustpilot generally seemed very positive. A friend who sold their property fairly recently used a local high street solicitor and was charged £2500 (including VAT). The only reason to visit their office was to have ID verified apparently - everything else was done via email, telephone and post. 
I understand the concept 'you get what you pay for' but given the above and assuming an online conveyancer can verify my ID remotely is it worth going for an option like Convey Law or another was a firm based in Wales (also charging £870) or should I pay £2500 and use a local high street conveyancer? 

Thanks

Thrugelmir

Obtain written estimates and compare them on a like for like basis. What your friend paid is irrelevant to you. 

Smileitsfree

I’ve used both local and online conveyancing services. Both worked out ok but the online service was often difficult to get to speak to someone when I needed to. Both services had unnecessary delays and I had to constantly keep at them to progress my straightforward cash sale. I got a local conveyancer to reduce their costs to near the online fee on my last property. Shop around locally , many do a fixed fee. 

Nova1307

Smileitsfree said:

I’ve used both local and online conveyancing services. Both worked out ok but the online service was often difficult to get to speak to someone when I needed to. Both services had unnecessary delays and I had to constantly keep at them to progress my straightforward cash sale. I got a local conveyancer to reduce their costs to near the online fee on my last property. Shop around locally , many do a fixed fee. 

Is there any benefit in choosing a local conveyancer over one in another part of the country where rates are cheaper? I suspect London based ones are the amongst the highest in the country and I noted that moneysupermarket showed one or two cheaper high street options in places like Cardiff as well as a few online conveyancers like Convey Law. 

Waunakee

I’ve only ever used my very efficient local high street solicitor and have never encountered any issues with her work.Fees have been broadly similar to those offered by the sell it cheap,pile it high and do it slowly conveyancing factories.This is in North West England.

Other vendors/purchasers in various chains have used the online people with very mixed results.Some of them are very poor!

Given the recent unresolved cyber attack and communication losses on the conveyancing firms that are part of the Simplify Group I think I would be extremely wary of using a solely online outfit.

thegreenone

I used a high street solicitor in Surrey for a sale only.  £1600.

TheJP

I've used premier property lawyers (online) for both my transactions and both times i had no issues although probably best to avoid them right now.

Be sure to check reviews, the price will be dependent on where the solicitor is, the type of sale/purchase and the value of the house.

user1977

Waunakee said:

Given the recent unresolved cyber attack and communication losses on the conveyancing firms that are part of the Simplify Group I think I would be extremely wary of using a solely online outfit.

No firm is literally "solely online", but irrespective of whether they're "high street" or not, generally all firms rely to a huge extent on IT these days - I don't think the effect of a similar attack on a smaller firm would be any less disastrous if you happened to be their client.

TBagpuss

Make sure that you are comparing like for like.

Some companies will quote a low basic figure but then add on a lot of additional charges, others will give you the over all figure which includes all those things, so it looks more up front but may in reality be the same or cheaper. 

Also, get a quote based on your own transaction -your friend will have had a different property and different requirements.

BlueC

£2500 seems very expensive for a sale-only. I'd expect to pay about £800. Get some quotes from local conveyancers rather than relying on what your friend tells you. If they were charged £2500 then their property sale may have been extremely complex or unusual, or they may just have been ripped off, or maybe they don't understand the breakdown of costs. Also try to get some recommendations from people who have bought and sold recently.

paulj2021

I’m using a large online conveyancer at the moment, they seem good at replying to emails (always a response within 24 hours) but sometimes their responses are a bit brief and limited. They have an online portal which is good for viewing progress although it seems a bit slow and clunky sometimes. Also although it has a UK registered address I suspect the actual work is being done outside the UK, not that it’s an issue, it just means my responses to emails come in sometimes at 2am on a Sunday!