HouseSale: Am I allowed to contact the buyers solicitor

user1977

confused_landlord said:

canaldumidi said:

They will not communicate with you. So no.

Of course, if you were acting for yourself and had no solicitor, then yes, they would treat you as the selling conveyancer and communicate with you.

Is this really a thing? You can act for yourself as the seller? I presume this is limited to sellers who are professional solicitors?

It's not much of a thing, but yes it is possible, and no you don't need to be a professional solicitor, just know what you're doing. There are almost no circumstances in life where you need to have professional legal advice, but quite a few where it would be daft not to seek it. In the same way that you don't need to employ estate agents, surveyors, etc.

But you can expect pushback from the other solicitors (who won't want to have to spend time walking you through the process), and if there's a mortgage lender involved they'll want legal representation (normally the same solicitor as your own, and you'd be paying for their solicitor, so not much saving in them not also acting for you).

canaldumidi

confused_landlord said:

canaldumidi said:

They will not communicate with you. So no.

Of course, if you were acting for yourself and had no solicitor, then yes, they would treat you as the selling conveyancer and communicate with you.

Is this really a thing? You can act for yourself as the seller? I presume this is limited to sellers who are professional solicitors?

I've done it several times, buying and selling, but not recently. As above, it's harder these days with money laundering checks required (and push-back from the solicitor the other side). Mortgage lenders will insist on a solicitor.

But only qualified conveyancers can charge money for conveyancing, so while I could in theory act for my mum, or bestie, I would have to do it for free.

Not that I would as the cosequences of a slip up on someone else's property are potentially too great.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/diy-conveyancing/s?k=diy+conveyancing

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31206581329&cm_sp=rec-_-pd_hw_i_1-_-bdp&reftag=pd_hw_i_1

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/should-i-do-conveyancing-myself/