Conveyancing - local solicitor or cheap internet one?
Discussion
I am purchasing a property (nothing to sell) and need to sort out conveyancing. Looking at fees the cheapest option is for one of the internet based jobbies, but have anyone had good / bad experiences of these?
My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
No experience myself of online solicitors; but I can't help but think you will get what you pay for.
To save a few hundred pounds against the biggest purchase of my life would make no sense to me at all. Local, established, recommended and the best I could afford would always be my choice in these circumstances, house buying and solicitors can be painful enough without them being internet based only.
To save a few hundred pounds against the biggest purchase of my life would make no sense to me at all. Local, established, recommended and the best I could afford would always be my choice in these circumstances, house buying and solicitors can be painful enough without them being internet based only.
No experience myself of online solicitors; but I can't help but think you will get what you pay for.
To save a few hundred pounds against the biggest purchase of my life would make no sense to me at all. Local, established, recommended and the best I could afford would always be my choice in these circumstances, house buying and solicitors can be painful enough without them being internet based only.
To save a few hundred pounds against the biggest purchase of my life would make no sense to me at all. Local, established, recommended and the best I could afford would always be my choice in these circumstances, house buying and solicitors can be painful enough without them being internet based only.
MHB said:
I am purchasing a property (nothing to sell) and need to sort out conveyancing. Looking at fees the cheapest option is for one of the internet based jobbies, but have anyone had good / bad experiences of these?
My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
You're buying the biggest asset of your life, and you want to use someone from the INTERNET?My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
Yeah it'll be totally fine, what can go wrong.
WAKE. UP.
A friend of mine used an online one and he wasn't even allowed to call them with a query! He had to log it and wait for a response.
Buying a house can be stressful and slow if you don't push things along, not to mention all the idosyncrancies that searches etc may throw up.
I would go local all the time - that way you have someone who is accountable rather than a faceless workflow system.
Buying a house can be stressful and slow if you don't push things along, not to mention all the idosyncrancies that searches etc may throw up.
I would go local all the time - that way you have someone who is accountable rather than a faceless workflow system.
Go Local, a local solicitor will want to become your go to solicitor, a chain conveyancer will just want to get your batch of paperwork through, there is no good reason to work harder or faster as you will be billed the same no matter if it takes 6 weeks with everything chased or 12 weeks with stuff pausing in in trays, out trays and being delayed elsewhere.
The internet / factory conveyancers use junior/inexperienced staff with a qualified manager. The manager signs off / approves their work and essentially manages the pool which is partly how they keep their costs down. The downside is that if they are unavailable (holiday, illness, etc) most things stop. Also, as they are keeping cost base low and maximising utilisation, and using less trained staff, your chances of being advised well are limited.
I used a very good firm of solicitors, cost £1500 including all searches, and to be honest they were excellent and worth every penny... advised me well, and helped in the negotiating position that gave me about £5k off the property post survey...
I used a very good firm of solicitors, cost £1500 including all searches, and to be honest they were excellent and worth every penny... advised me well, and helped in the negotiating position that gave me about £5k off the property post survey...
Soovy said:
MHB said:
I am purchasing a property (nothing to sell) and need to sort out conveyancing. Looking at fees the cheapest option is for one of the internet based jobbies, but have anyone had good / bad experiences of these?
My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
You're buying the biggest asset of your life, and you want to use someone from the INTERNET?My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
Yeah it'll be totally fine, what can go wrong.
WAKE. UP.
MHB said:
I am purchasing a property (nothing to sell) and need to sort out conveyancing. Looking at fees the cheapest option is for one of the internet based jobbies, but have anyone had good / bad experiences of these?
My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
Lower the fees usually means the lower the service level. I don't hear of many people saying how good the internet firm they used was but hear many tales of woe and never again.My thoughts are that due to the lower fees, they need to process more completions to make their money, so should be better at pushing this through more quickly. Based on there being basic requirements they must undertake to comply with the Law Society etc, surely they must be ok???? Or am I being daft?
Internet based and office based you also need to remember that not everyone who deals with property is dancing to the same tune and the Law Society, or the SRA, do not control everyone.
I'm a little snowed at the minute to type you a full ins and outs but if you have a look back through the search function you will see that this is a topic that comes up at least once a month if not more.
If you would like to talk about it more please PM me and I'll get back to you, although I am likely to be out of contact until Friday I'm afraid.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Indeed; if you read the rest of my post I suggest a *recommended* conveyancer. If the property is particularly complex then I agree it may be 'off the scale' for a conveyancer, but for the 'modern box' this seems unlikely. Horses for courses as they say.And you are, I believe, a solicitor, so I understand your viewpoint
Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 13th October 18:41
Interestingly, we seem to have had the opposite experience to most.
We did our first house purchase with an online company (although from memory, they were a bricks and mortar solicitor too in Lincoln or somewhere who had an additional revenue stream from the online stuff) and everything went perfectly.
When we moved for the second time, 5 years later, I couldn't find the paperwork on who we'd used the first time, so we went with a local company, and they were bloody awful. Everything took longer, the solicitor herself was a surly old moo, and they didn't understand the notion of convenience to the customer, so don't even think of trying to contact them outside Monday to Friday 09:00 - 17:00, even if you are supposed to be collecting the keys on the Saturday and they've not sorted it with the Estate Agent!
If we do move again, one thing is for bloody certain - I won't be using the same local solicitor.
We did our first house purchase with an online company (although from memory, they were a bricks and mortar solicitor too in Lincoln or somewhere who had an additional revenue stream from the online stuff) and everything went perfectly.
When we moved for the second time, 5 years later, I couldn't find the paperwork on who we'd used the first time, so we went with a local company, and they were bloody awful. Everything took longer, the solicitor herself was a surly old moo, and they didn't understand the notion of convenience to the customer, so don't even think of trying to contact them outside Monday to Friday 09:00 - 17:00, even if you are supposed to be collecting the keys on the Saturday and they've not sorted it with the Estate Agent!
If we do move again, one thing is for bloody certain - I won't be using the same local solicitor.
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