Conveyancing quotes

curtis122

The next step in our house sale is getting Conveyancing quotes.

There is a very good chance we will sell our house before finding a house to buy and are expecting to have to go into a rental, although you never know we may get lucky and the right house may come up while selling.

What should I be asking when I'm asking for a quote?

Should I be asking for them to quote and provide a full breakdown of their quote and to provide a separate quote or show the breakdown separately for selling and buying? 

Are there any other questions I should be asking when asking for a quote to be able to compare? 

EssexHebridean

Be ready to confirm the type of property, whether it is freehold or leasehold, and the sale and purchase price in each case. In exchange you should receive a quote for each sale and purchase with breakdown of how the fees are made up, and what other costs are involved ie Land Registry fees, stamp duty etc. 

Hoenir

Obtain at least 3 quotes. To ensure that you are comparing like for like. 

incus432

Have a guess at your sale and buy prices to get quotes. I found they all differ in what they include so look at them carefully.   Some have fixed prices on their website.

Look up reviews. 

Check they answer their phone and respond promptly to your enqury.  I ruled out a couple who promised on the phone but needed chasing or seemed chaotic.  One had an ancient DOS based website that rang alarm bells

Will you have a named conveyancer and contact?

I found this useful although didnt go for a no sale no fee 

https://www.theadvisory.co.uk/conveyancing/conveyancing-solicitors/

I obtained quotes from some national online firms but was not impressed so went for a well reviewed solicitor in nearby town.

Mr.Generous

Whats the local rental market like?

Bigphil1474

I wouldn't rely on being able to easily find somewhere to rent whilst you buy, it's a difficult market.

We got quotes from 3 local conveyancers. And went with the one that presented the best. You will find cheaper online, but I suspect they are hit and miss. Our sale and purchase would have taken a lot longer if we weren't able to just pop in and sign stuff or deliver it ourselves. 

Selling is fairly straight forward and cheaper in terms of solicitor costs. There's not as much for the solicitor to do that you'd have to pay for even if the sale fell through as well, compared to buying. Buying is a bit riskier as you can pay for legal searches etc. on a property and if the sale falls through you have to pay the solicitor for that anyway. Think we paid about £2k all in for sale and purchase.