Cheap Conveyancing

[Markytop]

Does anyone have experience of using one of the "direct conveyancing" companies that advertise prolifically on the web?

From what I can see, they appear to be the Ryanair of the solicitor world, ie low initial price to get you interested and then lots of chargeable extras on top. However from getting a couple of quotes, even with all the possible extras added, they still appear to be several hundred pound cheaper than the traditional local solicitors.

My transaction is a (in theory) straightforward sale of freehold with a mortgage to settle so hopefully nothing too taxing. I will most likely be working out of the country when the sale goes through, so the concept of doing everything by phone / email / post is likely to be the same whether I used a direct firm or the local solicitor.

Previous conveyancing experiences of friends and family seem to suggest there will be hassle along the way somewhere whether I pay top dollar for a recommended local solicitor or not, so want to know is this direct factory style approach offered to conveyancing one that can save me money and hassle, or should I avoid?

Any thoughts or comments much appreciated.

[RV8]

I've bought a house where the vendors used a national conveyancers who were nothing but trouble. Just find a good local solicitor who you are able to talk to and stick with them is my advice. Saving a few hundred when buying a house by compromising on your conveyancing is a bad idea imo.

[anonymous-user]

RV8 said:

I've bought a house where the vendors used a national conveyancers who were nothing but trouble. Just find a good local solicitor who you are able to talk to and stick with them is my advice. Saving a few hundred when buying a house by compromising on your conveyancing is a bad idea imo.

+1

[Manks]

Markytop said:

Does anyone have experience of using one of the "direct conveyancing" companies that advertise prolifically on the web?

From what I can see, they appear to be the Ryanair of the solicitor world, ie low initial price to get you interested and then lots of chargeable extras on top. However from getting a couple of quotes, even with all the possible extras added, they still appear to be several hundred pound cheaper than the traditional local solicitors.

My transaction is a (in theory) straightforward sale of freehold with a mortgage to settle so hopefully nothing too taxing. I will most likely be working out of the country when the sale goes through, so the concept of doing everything by phone / email / post is likely to be the same whether I used a direct firm or the local solicitor.

Previous conveyancing experiences of friends and family seem to suggest there will be hassle along the way somewhere whether I pay top dollar for a recommended local solicitor or not, so want to know is this direct factory style approach offered to conveyancing one that can save me money and hassle, or should I avoid?

Any thoughts or comments much appreciated.

You might well find that these firms subcontract the work to provincial solicitors.

I went to see a company called Move With Us, with my solicitor, because she was looking at taking on work from them.

The company acted like a national conveyancing firm but in fact subcontracted the work. Some conveyancing cases she would have been hadling would have earned her £160.00. This was at a time when her usual fee was £400. So, if this is still the case, you have a solicitor working for peanuts on the "national" work and earning reasonably on domestically generated stuff. Which cases do you suppose receive best attention?

[MGTS]

Personally I think it is a bit of a false economy going cheap. Buying a house will probably be the most expensive thing u do, and I don't see the point in risking it for a couple of hundred quid.

Would you have a boiler replaced by a cheap internet based plumber who farmed the work out cheaply to someone who didn't really have a financial incentive to do it right but instead just needed to do it quick and cheerful? Would you also go to an Internet type dentist to have your teeth drilled on the cheap? If the answer to both the above is yes, the go for a cheap lawyer too. However, if you want a proper job then unfortunately you'll probably have to pay a bit more (ps all the above in my humble opinion - I've never used a cheap Internet firm but have heard other people's experiences which haven't been great)

[DJC]

Manks said:

The company acted like a national conveyancing firm but in fact subcontracted the work. Some conveyancing cases she would have been hadling would have earned her £160.00. This was at a time when her usual fee was £400. So, if this is still the case, you have a solicitor working for peanuts on the "national" work and earning reasonably on domestically generated stuff. Which cases do you suppose receive best attention?

If her normal fee was £400 and she was accepting work for £160 I'd be asking questions along the lines of how good she is if she needs to accept this poor paying work?

My solicitor, whom I'm quite pally with, is always rushed off his feet despite being one of the most expensive conveyancing solicitors in the area and suffering a loss of business due to the climate. On a personal level, he picked up issues with my property that had previously been missed by several conveyancers in the past - both local firms and national chains.

[Markytop]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. Guess this is one area of the market that buying from the internet is not quite there yet (but will imagine it will get closer in the coming years). The attraction of potentially saving up to 50% though was worth investigating.

Also regarding the solicitor who was accepting £160 when her normal rate was £400, playing devils advocate, maybe this could be looked at that if the industry acceptable rate is £160, is she just ripping everyone else off when she charges £400?

[Manks]

Markytop said:

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. Guess this is one area of the market that buying from the internet is not quite there yet (but will imagine it will get closer in the coming years). The attraction of potentially saving up to 50% though was worth investigating.

Also regarding the solicitor who was accepting £160 when her normal rate was £400, playing devils advocate, maybe this could be looked at that if the industry acceptable rate is £160, is she just ripping everyone else off when she charges £400?

She didn't accept the work. That is what they were offering (albeit for the lowest paid cases). She was looking at it from the perspective of whether they could provide occasional cases whe she was quiet. She decided she'd be better off doing nothing, but someone will have taken the work I suspect.

At that time I was paying her £350 a case. Her full rate as £400 plus VAT and disbursements.

[Cogcog]

Vote for a local solicitor, if only because they often have agreed online access for Searches with their local councils and know how long the councils need.

[therealpigdog]

Experienced solicitor vs. 17yr old first jobber.

Hmmm, that's a tricky one - who should I trust to handle the sale/purchase of my most valuable asset.

That said, like all professions there are good and bad solicitors - get a personal recommendation.

[Ej74]

We used a online company based in Liverpool a few years ago.

I was 110% happy with the service provided - from memory cost around 140 all in for everything vs. local solic who was quoting 600+.

Excellent commuincation, proactive approach worked well for us !

[rah1888]

Ej74 said:

We used a online company based in Liverpool a few years ago.

I was 110% happy with the service provided - from memory cost around 140 all in for everything vs. local solic who was quoting 600+.

Excellent commuincation, proactive approach worked well for us !

I simply struggle to understand how that is possible. Fees for searches would come to more than that before anything else is taken into account.

[BERGS2]

Dave_ST220 said:

+1

+1

had a fooking mare using an online cheepie on the sale of our place a couple of years back.

Fast forward two yesr we have just bough through a recommended solicitor from a friend - over twice the price, but money well spend IMHO

buy cheap, buy twice....

oh, hang on

[james_tigerwoods]

In my ignorance - Is it just the cost of solicitor's time that is the bulk of the cost?

[zaphod42]

Mine are costing 1550. 800 on fees, remainder om searches, bank transfers, etc.
Not the cheapest but has been very effective and assisted in the negotiations, and a very well drafted set of riders on the contract covering some issues, all of which saved me far more than his fees.

I guess if you buy a chain free/new build then going cheap is okay. Any complexities, pay for a good service..

[rah1888]

james_tigerwoods said:

In my ignorance - Is it just the cost of solicitor's time that is the bulk of the cost?

Pretty much, searches will be roughly £150-£200, depending on area and whether you have any extra ones carried out.

Other than that it's really the solicitors time. I still can't believe a decent job can be done for £140.

[therealpigdog]

james_tigerwoods said:

In my ignorance - Is it just the cost of solicitor's time that is the bulk of the cost?

All disbursements (searches, stamp duty etc) will be the same price whoever you go to (assuming of course that they do the same searches, my experience is that the factory conveyancers tend to do whatever searches the computer tells them to do, whereas an experienced solicitor will be able to use common sense as to whether a flood search is required for a property at the top of a hill, or if a region requires a mining search etc).

Aside from that you are paying for time, and so a solicitor's time is naturally more expensive.

One thing to note - you do not need a solicitor to do the conveyancing, and I know of several legal executives or registered conveyancers who have been in the game for a long time (30+ in the case of one of them) and I would rate them just as highly as any solicitor I have come across in their field. The key thing is their experience, and flexibility - "computer says no" is a big part of factory conveyancing.