To use the estate agent's recommended solicitor?

[bebbdeblin]

I have probate to sell my mum's house. I want to sell it quickly, not least because I live 6 hours drive away. The estate agent's recommended solicitor is very reasonably priced and will save me shopping around. I know there can be pitfalls in using a solicitor that is chummy with the agent when you're buying (because they may be inclined to push things through quickly rather than being thorough in tying up loose ends), but aibu to think it's of less concern when you're just selling?

If they’re well priced I’d just go with them. As you say, there aren’t so many pitfalls as a seller and it’ll save you some hassle.

Using the EA recommended solicitor was the worst thing we ever did, they were shockingly bad. Would always do my own research in future and use the one with the best reviews.

I think they’re all equally shit tbh

It depends. Is it a proper solicitor doing the work or one of these shoddy outfits where it is mostly all done by unqualified people and then checked over by a solicitor at the end (when they invariably find problems and it sets the timing back massively)?

I wouldn’t they are cheap for a reason. Buyers used these and was awful and painful.

Took a lot longer as they asked one question at a time and lost paperwork they use cheap labor to do the basics and get things ready for the solicitor.
Imagine - can we have the electrical certificate
Week later do you have gas safety certificate
Another two weeks, can you confirm x

Bloody nightmare

We did this for our second house, having gone with a local solicitor for our first and had them do a terrible job. Conveyancing firms are good for very straightforward cases like ours was, because it’s all they do - we had a cash buyer and no chain ahead, so it was very simple. I wouldn’t be so keen for a more complex sale or purchase, though.

My ea recommended solicitor was great. My seller's ea's integrated conveyancing team were APPALLING . Just awful.

Depends who it is. If they recommend a local company then they could be very good, but if it’s like purple bricks insisting on people using premier property lawyers then run away as fast as you can. We were the buyers, and our vendors used PPL and it was horrendous. The chain nearly broke at least three times due to their lack of care and attention

We used one of the estate agent's recommended solicitors. She was fantastic, and we've used her twice since. She was a bit more expensive than others, but had fantastic reviews. So I'd check out all the reviews, ask around, and then decide

Look at the solicitors website and look at the reviews
The agent obviously wants the sale to go through so would recommend a conveyancing solicitor who will do the work accordingly, it's not in the agents interests to want it to hang around after they have done their part ( or most of it ) of the sale

Our buyers used solicitors that our EA recommended. They were (or at least the conveyancer in question was) shocking. To the point they nearly lost the sale. The manager from the EA had to step in to put pressure on them to stop being ridiculous. They were able to do that because they had a referral relationship which was being put at risk due to poor service. There are good and bad sides to it.

@thebellagio

Depends who it is. If they recommend a local company then they could be very good, but if it’s like purple bricks insisting on people using premier property lawyers then run away as fast as you can. We were the buyers, and our vendors used PPL and it was horrendous. The chain nearly broke at least three times due to their lack of care and attention

Yes to this, never ever use the PB ones. Our last but one buyers used them and they were desperate. Our solicitor says her heart always sinks if the other party useddthem as it always means cock ups and delays.

What @Jengnr said ^

I did - wish I hadn't!

Exactly this. We used a good solid conveyancer but there js one company in town who are utterly shit hot (but charge accordingly). When we had issues I remember our EA saying to me, if you’d used (company name), this would have been sorted because they would have come down on premier property lawyers like a ton of bricks…

When we completed on our house and we were waiting for confirmation of funds for the new house, my solicitor said to me “god knows how long you’ll have to wait because PPL are involved and they always create longer wait times”

@thebellagio our buyers used them too. They were so bad it was like a comedy. Next time I sell I’ll refuse to sell to anyone using them!

We used the solicitor our ea advised, it was incredibly cheap and the team we had was brilliant.

Trust pilot reviews are a good place to start.

My agents recommended their solicitor, told me how wonderful they were and how easy it would be as they worked together all the time etc etc. They were absolutely dreadful! She never once answered the phone to me, even when she was in the office (I got through via the switchboard a few times) and ignored emails until I chased her up. Never again.

Just be aware your EA will get a kickback payment from solicitors if you use the one they recommend.

Ok, so I get that some solicitors are better than others and I should check reviews when I find out who it is. But beyond that, so far I'm not picking up any issues specific to selling (rather than buying) a house.

@Jengnr

I think they’re all equally shit tbh

I agree. I’ve used the same one for four transactions. The last time, when there was no chain at all - FTB cash purchase of a probate property - they were beyond awful. We’d go with the agents’ recommendation next time.

Sadly this is my experience of solicitors. Both house purchase/sale and on things like wills and power of attorney.