On line conveyancer versus high street

misteron1

I'm looking for a conveyancer to sell and buy, I have 2 quotes from high street solicitors and quotes from Moneysupermarket, the high street quotes are £1500 and £2000 higher than the Moneysupermarket quotes for the whole job. I am not in any hurry so any delays hopefully wont matter. I have seen discussions from 2009, is it any different now? is Moneysupermarket the way to go? Thanks in advance. 

tigertrio

I am using a local firm. Excellent service and advice. Others in the chain are using big firms found from these services. They have taken so long to do any work it's almost collapsed the chain on multiple occasions.

Cedartree123

It will all depend on personal preference and your own circumstances - although £1,500 & £2,000 is quite a difference. First of all I’d check to see if they include all of the same things, or whether there may be some extra hidden costs coming later. 

From my own experience we we are using a local conveyancer for our sale/purchase and the difference is night and day from using an online conveyancer the first time round. Conveyancers will always work to their own timescales, but it was impossible to get hold of our online conveyancer, which dragged out what was a very easy purchase. 

silvercar

If there are no problems, then the cheapest quote will be ok. if there are any issues then cheap online conveyancers could take so long or make mistakes that you potentially lose a sale. You only have to look at the Land Registry thread to see problems that can occur. 

Woolsery

My local conveyancer came recommended. Between us, we found 4 faults in the title documentation that 3 earlier conveyancers had missed, two of them so important they had to have a deed of rectification. Would an on-line conveyancing factory have spotted them all? I know what I think!

diystarter7

In the scheme of things how much is 1/2k worth to you?
You state you re in no hurry, trust me even with the best will in the world inc chain free there can be plenty of problems.
Therefore, if you are like me and want to get things done quickly, and properly and have someone that you can hlaf trust, go with local outfit you or family has recommended otherwise go cheaper with one - there is always an element of luck involved..

CCJJ

I'm currently buying with an online agent - 100% go high street.

I'm only on this forum as the Land Registry will actually respond here unlike my solicitors. They are all overworked and just go AWOL.  Look on online reviews for any online one you are considering - likely have lots of complaints about being impossible to contact.

If I could go back and use a local one for £2k more I would in a heart beat.  When delays are counted in months it will bother you (or your buyer / seller will drop out).

misteron1

Thank you all for your comments, I think the high street wins! It's worrying enough without the added stress of lack of comunication.

matthew91822

I'm currently an online conveyancing company and it's not too bad at the moment. They've definitely not got the customer service of my local firm I've used before but so far everything has been done without issue. I only went with them though as my purchase is a bit unique in being 28 day exchange and my local charged a lot for this service.

housebuyer143

I used an online service and must say they were pretty good. Very very, very cheap and much much faster than the local solicitors near me. It's the same with anywhere. If you get a good one you get a good one. It could be online or they could be high street. It doesn't matter.

At the end of the day, look at the reviews and make a decision, from there. You do find with the online ones they tend to be trainees rather than solicitors which is why they are cheaper. Fine for a sale. Not so great for a purchase.

Zerforax

You can use online but make sure using a solicitor firm and not a conveyancing firm!