New build. Can builders in house solicitor ever be unbiased?
Discussion
Hi all.
I'm buying a new build and as part of the promotions I'm eligible for, they offer £750 towards my legal fees, but I have to use their solicitor.
The quotes I've got for their solicitors (they've got a few companies) and ones if found are all around the £700 to £800 mark. So basically, it'd be free. However, if I use a solicitor that I source myself, I know they aren't biased, they don't have any reasons to worry about not getting repeat business and aren't getting any backhanders from the house builder to ignore stuff I need to know.
The sales guy tells me that they like buyers to use their chosen solicitors as they have a relationship with them and can do arse kicking if they're dragging their feet. Well I'm in no rush to move in, it's already all happening 4 months sooner than I'd budgeted for. However, free is free, and I like the idea of not paying.
Your opinions would be greatly appreciated with regards to this dillema.
Thanks muchly, Nick.
I'm buying a new build and as part of the promotions I'm eligible for, they offer £750 towards my legal fees, but I have to use their solicitor.
The quotes I've got for their solicitors (they've got a few companies) and ones if found are all around the £700 to £800 mark. So basically, it'd be free. However, if I use a solicitor that I source myself, I know they aren't biased, they don't have any reasons to worry about not getting repeat business and aren't getting any backhanders from the house builder to ignore stuff I need to know.
The sales guy tells me that they like buyers to use their chosen solicitors as they have a relationship with them and can do arse kicking if they're dragging their feet. Well I'm in no rush to move in, it's already all happening 4 months sooner than I'd budgeted for. However, free is free, and I like the idea of not paying.
Your opinions would be greatly appreciated with regards to this dillema.
Thanks muchly, Nick.
Good point, though as a first time buyer, and having had the long standing opinion that everyone is out to f
k you, I'm always a little cautious. Thanks though, I suppose a large developer would have done all the proper checks on the land well before building started. Though I'm not actually sure what the whole role of the solicitor is, I do know me being a no chain, first time buyer, not using help to buy etc, I must be a fairly easy customer for them.
k you, I'm always a little cautious. Thanks though, I suppose a large developer would have done all the proper checks on the land well before building started. Though I'm not actually sure what the whole role of the solicitor is, I do know me being a no chain, first time buyer, not using help to buy etc, I must be a fairly easy customer for them.I personally would not trust a big house builder as far as I can throw them, having seen half the houses on a devopment that I was interested go from available to sold overnight. Could happen you say? Especially if the area manager tells the sales girl to stick some solds up to create a false impression. Regional director also lied his head off and I walked away.
Incidentally my brother was seeing the (slightly mental) sales girl at the time....
So I'd have a hesitation in using the developed proffered solicitor. Having said that they have a pretty solid duty of care the their client, and also to the lender so would go with it...
Incidentally my brother was seeing the (slightly mental) sales girl at the time....
So I'd have a hesitation in using the developed proffered solicitor. Having said that they have a pretty solid duty of care the their client, and also to the lender so would go with it...
We were offered £750 to use our builders solicitors, we used them and then when we going over the paperwork was genuinely surprised that the solicitor was happy to say, and suggested, that the contracts were in the builders favour and had them changed before we exchanged. I Thought they would be very much here is the contract sign it.
surveyor said:
I personally would not trust a big house builder as far as I can throw them, having seen half the houses on a devopment that I was interested go from available to sold overnight. Could happen you say? Especially if the area manager tells the sales girl to stick some solds up to create a false impression. Regional director also lied his head off and I walked away.
Incidentally my brother was seeing the (slightly mental) sales girl at the time....
So I'd have a hesitation in using the developed proffered solicitor. Having said that they have a pretty solid duty of care the their client, and also to the lender so would go with it...
That wouldn't surprise me and has nothing to do with being able to trust the solicitor they are paying but who is acting for you.Incidentally my brother was seeing the (slightly mental) sales girl at the time....
So I'd have a hesitation in using the developed proffered solicitor. Having said that they have a pretty solid duty of care the their client, and also to the lender so would go with it...
Put another way - builders have to volume sell - therefore they cannot have unreasonable contracts either because it delays the sale and because of the poor publicity.
monthefish said:
I'd definitely get my own solicitor, especially for the sake of a few hundred quid.
The fact that it's a big housebuilder/new development makes no difference.
It does make a difference. The title will be sorted, boundary ownership will be clear. Older houses have messy titles, the developers land team sort all the issues. The fact that it's a big housebuilder/new development makes no difference.
The contracts are pretty bog standard, no rocket science in them, same with the transfers.
Developers keep the sales docs simple as it makes for quicker sales.
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