Is this enough red flags to change conveyancing firm?

housebuyer143

When buying a property I would want a conveyancer to deal with my property if I bought again, not a fee earner, a trainee, a paralegal. Everyone has to learn but I found mine wasn't comfortable giving advice (isn't that their job), made many mistakes that I had to correct her on (lucky I know what I'm looking for) and I find they haven't the experience to ask the correct questions on the enquiries side of things. They will ask most but when I saw the enquiries coming from the other side who had an actual conveyancer they were much more detailed and probably a result of their experience.

I wouldn't trust Trustpilot at all tbh, what do the Google reviews say? They are actually impartial. 

I'm sure it will be fine. Ultimately mine wasn't terrible but you will notice a stark difference between a qualified conveyancer on your case and the trainee. As long as they answer the phone though or email you back in a fair timescale, that is good enough.. Not replying is a red flag though straight away.

Deanlangdon14

ManuelG said:

Deanlangdon14 said:

I'm glad to hear that I don't have to switch, means less work for me. But I find it funny how you read a bunch of articles on this stuff and you form an opinion, then you come to this forum and everyone's like "yeahhh it's fine, whatever"

There must be some less laid back people like me around here  

I'm not laid back but...!

My conveyancer is a paralegal. The company was recommended by family who used them and also had a paralegal, they were very pleased with the results. My opinion is meh, but things do at least move.

I haven't met them, don't expect to,, and am not sure I ever will.

My experience of solicitors, mortgage brokers etc is they're often not very tech savvy. My mortgage broker goes into meltdown when I encrypt documents I send him via email and expect him to understand how to open them. While it's not great if the portal is clunky, I'd put that down to generally being specialists in law rather than IT, and not prioritising the IT as a result, or not fully understanding the system they're buying. As long as it's secure it's a could do better, but not a deal breaker.

I see, thanks for all the detail! I think I was expecting too much

born_again

Personally a local company that deal with house purchases, where you can walk in & talk to them.

Deanlangdon14

housebuyer143 said:

When buying a property I would want a conveyancer to deal with my property if I bought again, not a fee earner, a trainee, a paralegal. Everyone has to learn but I found mine wasn't comfortable giving advice (isn't that their job), made many mistakes that I had to correct her on (lucky I know what I'm looking for) and I find they haven't the experience to ask the correct questions on the enquiries side of things. They will ask most but when I saw the enquiries coming from the other side who had an actual conveyancer they were much more detailed and probably a result of their experience.

I wouldn't trust Trustpilot at all tbh, what do the Google reviews say? They are actually impartial. 

I'm sure it will be fine. Ultimately mine wasn't terrible but you will notice a stark difference between a qualified conveyancer on your case and the trainee. As long as they answer the phone though or email you back in a fair timescale, that is good enough.. Not replying is a red flag though straight away.

That's what I was expecting. I guess we'll go through with these guys and see how it goes and maybe do better next time. I will for sure watch out for their response time.

LicoriceStick

We sold our house last year, 30 years after buying it so it's fair to say our knowledge of conveyancing was virtually zero.  When I approached the firm we used I was in contact with the the main conveyancer and he instilled a lot of confidence so we went with them.  I must admit I became more than a little concerned when our principle contact was a paralegal who seemed as inexperienced as us.  However the main conveyancer did step in a couple of times when things went a bit pear shaped.  Sale went through OK and all ended well.  Stressfull at the time though.

Deanlangdon14

LicoriceStick said:

We sold our house last year, 30 years after buying it so it's fair to say our knowledge of conveyancing was virtually zero.  When I approached the firm we used I was in contact with the the main conveyancer and he instilled a lot of confidence so we went with them.  I must admit I became more than a little concerned when our principle contact was a paralegal who seemed as inexperienced as us.  However the main conveyancer did step in a couple of times when things went a bit pear shaped.  Sale went through OK and all ended well.  Stressfull at the time though.

It's nice to hear your experience, thank you. The general consensus seems to be that even though things might seem worrying sometimes with these legal firms, it usually ends up okay. That helps me relax a bit.

robatwork

Make a note to update the thread after you've moved and all the paperwork is done - good bad or indifferent experience.

Skiddaw1

It's hard to say OP.

When we were buying our first property (a very straightforward purchase of a flat we were already renting) we used a local solicitor for the conveyancing and they really weren't very good despite having a local reputation. We were allocated a paralegal who was- frankly- a bit of a pain in the backside and we never hit it off with her. They weren't cheap either. The next time we bought we went with a recommended local conveyancing practise (they did nothing else) who were splendid. They were no longer around when we most recently moved but we used a different local solicitor practise (with whom I had a previous professional connection) and they were brilliant- really responsive and efficient. Our buyers used a conveyancing factory- much cheaper but said firm didn't half drag things out (and made a few rather spectacular blunders during the process). I think it's a wee bit luck of the drawer really but overall I'd generally plump for a local conveyancer rather than a factory outfit.