Moving House - Conveyancing advice

[Titan]

I have Just put an offer in for a new house in Leicester, got a quote from the Estate agents from their recommended solicitor. Tempted just to take them on for simplicity, but has anyone got advice? I know nothing of the local Solicitors (Derby or Leicester areas) So don't have much to go on other than price!

[backofanenvelope]

Not local to me when I had to sell my house and part of the package that EA I used were Taylor&Emmet LLP Solicitors in Sheffield, who were good and fast in the process. Not sure if of use to you.

[teaky]

Is there any advantage to using a local solicitor?  Would it be more convenient for you to use a solicitor near where you currently live?

 

I can imagine that some local knowledge helps but as far as I'm aware most searches are submitted online or by post and most conveyancing work done in the office.

[chris p bacon]

When I sell the houses I prefer if the purchasers have a lawyer who is within a short distance to them so that documents can be signed/exchanged with ease and not rely on the post as so many go missing. Legal documents cannot be sent electronically, they might do so for advance warning but cannot act until the original copy arrives.

 

Of all the issues we've had with sales they have all been due to inexperienced conveyancers within these large EA driven conveyancing companies. one of the worst has to be failing to transfer the monies in time so the purchaser was on the street outside after banking finished even though they had the funds some 3 hours beforehand, the answer from the conveyancing company "We'll be back at 9am"

 

Personally I'd use a local recommended lawyer as you get what you pay for. 

[RANGERS]

Licensed conveyancers usually work out cheaper (though not always!), and in our limited experience were much easier to deal with. Worth getting a few estimates to compare.

[BG John]

Watch out for acting on documents sent electronically to speed up the process. My purchase was unusual, but I was sent a large document by e-mail as two PDFs, as I was being pushed to complete. Everything looked fine, so I went ahead with the purchase. Several months later, when the seller's solicitor got round to sending the original document, I discovered they had missed a page while scanning it. If I'd seen that page before agreeing, it would almost certainly have led to me asking questions that would have resulted in me pulling out of the purchase.

[chris p bacon]

Licensed conveyancers usually work out cheaper (though not always!), and in our limited experience were much easier to deal with. Worth getting a few estimates to compare.

There is a reason for that, they don't allot many hours to each purchase/sale.

 

I have even had the instance where a purchasers conveyancing company stopped work as they had reached their allotted hours and then suggested to the purchasers that I should pick up the extra cost if I wanted to sell the property, I pointed out that they were on of 5 potential purchasers so would not. I stuck with them but they had in the end to get their case taken over by another as the conveyancing company would not do any more without further funds but would not detail what the costs would be. IIRC they ended up paying more than if they had just walked into any lawyers office.

As another example across the road we had a self builder who built his house but then eventually sold it on, the new purchaser used an EA pushed Conveyancing company that completely missed that he was in contravention of planning and had a stop notice with no driveway/access, the new owner is having to deal with this and the CC deny all resonsibility as they say they were paid to purchase the property not check it was a valid transaction.

[chris p bacon]

Watch out for acting on documents sent electronically to speed up the process. My purchase was unusual, but I was sent a large document by e-mail as two PDFs, as I was being pushed to complete. Everything looked fine, so I went ahead with the purchase. Several months later, when the seller's solicitor got round to sending the original document, I discovered they had missed a page while scanning it. If I'd seen that page before agreeing, it would almost certainly have led to me asking questions that would have resulted in me pulling out of the purchase.

I was under the impression that legally you cannot work from electronic service because of possible issues such as this. I know the firm I use will not act unless they have the original.

[BG John]

I was under the impression that legally you cannot work from electronic service because of possible issues such as this. I know the firm I use will not act unless they have the original.

It was agreed by both solicitors, and the insurance company as it related to an insurance policy. Another reason why I've learned to distrust so called professionals.

[Horsetan]

I don't do conveyancing (the professional indemnity insurance premiums tend to rocket if you do), but I can refer you to a good Firm near the old Smithfield meat market if you don't mind London rates.

[Zomboid]

The agents preferred solicitor will most likely be a fairly budget offering. The people I know who went that way did OK, but probably wouldn't make that same choice a second time.

[rovex]

Also you can almost guarantee that the estate agent is being paid a referral fee by the solicitor for sending the work to them. 

I was a conveyancing solicitor in private practice. I can see the benefit in using a firm local to the property as there can be things that local solicitors know which someone elsewhere won't. However my preference would be to use someone local to you - so you can see them and talk to them directly rather than doing everything by phone and email - and also I'd try to use someone personally recommended if possible.

[RANGERS]

There is a reason for that, they don't allot many hours to each purchase/sale.

 

I have even had the instance where a purchasers conveyancing company stopped work as they had reached their allotted hours and then suggested to the purchasers that I should pick up the extra cost if I wanted to sell the property, I pointed out that they were on of 5 potential purchasers so would not. I stuck with them but they had in the end to get their case taken over by another as the conveyancing company would not do any more without further funds but would not detail what the costs would be. IIRC they ended up paying more than if they had just walked into any lawyers office.

As another example across the road we had a self builder who built his house but then eventually sold it on, the new purchaser used an EA pushed Conveyancing company that completely missed that he was in contravention of planning and had a stop notice with no driveway/access, the new owner is having to deal with this and the CC deny all resonsibility as they say they were paid to purchase the property not check it was a valid transaction.

Not something I've ever encountered although as solicitors charge hourly and conveyancers will often quote a fixed fee, I can understand them getting a bit miffed if there's any unnecessary delays. The solicitor working on hourly fees will of course profit from this situation.

[rovex]

Not something I've ever encountered although as solicitors charge hourly and conveyancers will often quote a fixed fee, I can understand them getting a bit miffed if there's any unnecessary delays. The solicitor working on hourly fees will of course profit from this situation.

My experience is that most conveyancing solicitors will also give a fixed price. Only the top end will charge on an hourly basis

[Wheatley]

I used the estate agent's recommendation once, never again. The advantage with a local solicitor is that you can go round and create a rumpus in their office when they won't answer the phone for six weeks. If they're three hundred miles away and the secretary won't put you through because the solicitor says she's not to be disturbed there's not much you can do.

 

I find standing in people's premises talking loudly to myself (but within earshot of their other clients) about how I'm never going to use them again works very well. It also works on car dealers who won't give you your keys back while they "just have another little look at the figures and see what I can do". (They had been inspecting my car for part-ex value).

[pete_mcfarlane]

Fraser Brown in Nottingham were really good when I bought my house 2 years back.

 

One plus point was that they were 15 minutes walk from work, so I could drop off signed copies of documents quickly. Useful when the seller is panicking about the sale not going quickly enough (for them).

[Titan]

Many thanks for your advice!

 

As it happens the agents recommended solicitors near the house are open until 8pm on weekdays, and since I am not moving far I will be easily able to get to them before they close for the evening on most if not any weekday.

 

I did try and see if I could get a solicitor in Derby, but googling got mixed results - one had an office in Derby, but the office for conveyancing was in Coventry, others that 'covered the Derby area' were national companies which were no where near either. Once I discovered that the Agents solicitors were open weekdays until eight (and I think Saturdays too) there seemed to be no advantage in Derby over Leicester to where I am moving, and seeing as my Partner currently lives in Leicester there is the advantage that she may be able to accompany me if she so wishes.

 

Not only that but to add to the mix my workplace is moving to Birmingham shortly, further reducing any advantage a Derby solicitor might have.

 

So I have decided to plump for the Agents recommendation, which seemed to put in a reasonable quote anyway.

 

Oh and the house used to have a model railway in the loft - I suspect it will be reinstated - I did design my current railway with dismantling in mind so it might be possible to transfer it without too much grief/damage! (and the new house has a bigger loft!)

[jjb1970]

When we moved down south from up North 8 years ago it was a company relocation and I used a solicitor appointed by the company and paid directly by the company which was great however the solicitors were somewhere near Haywards Heath. I was a bit nervous about the idea of using solicitors I'd never met who were nowhere near us (in either location) but I was very impressed and the whole experience was totally painless. Although maybe if a solicitor gets a contract to provide such services for a multi-national company they make sure they do a good enough job to retain the business as they were moving people around all the time and I think all their staff were handled by the same solicitors unless they opted out. In that case the company still paid the fees but you had to pay everything and then submit expense claims, it was easier just to let them take care of it all.