Wtf do property solicitors do?

[novocaned]

And are they all shit?

I cannot believe they write a new contract from scratch for every house sale and purchase.

They are never on time with things - always have to chase. Never in the office (or have very good defence secretaries). Never seem to even remember the vaguest detail about your situation.

I have concluded that they just do photocopying and placing those little page markers to tell you where to sign and then rake it in.

Fully prepared to be told IABU but moving stress is at its peak.

Think you might have bad solicitors. That's not the experience I had, they were very good and helpful.

My solicitor isn’t mine that and I’d can one that was.

You've got bad solicitors - mine was awesome and we were having general chit chat via email by the end - she was as invested as me in wanting my property purchase (and sale) to go through.

Are you talking about basic conveyancing? It is very low margin mostly formulaic work, solicitors have tens of cases at the go at once so the response time is poor. Exacerbated by the extremely manual and paper based nature in the UK.

It can be dramatically different if you pay for a non pile it high outfit, or have a local firm where you have f2f relationship so can chase things up quickly. But if it is some economy sub 1k online firm then its a volume game for them

@novocaned are you getting a mortgage?
If so do you understand that your solicitor is actually acting for you and your lender ?
Your lender will sue your solicitor if they don't carry out the ridiculous and endless enquiries the lender insists on.
You can love the property all you like and be happy with the lack of planning consent/ building regs / the breached covenants etc etc because you think the garden is cute and you've always wanted a house with a yellow front door. You lender is going to be a tad more bothered.

If you are a cash buyer, knock yourself out and rush through a transaction without doing any due diligence. After all, it's only money.

If you are using one of the bulk conveyancers recommended by the estate agent then yes, they are shit, there are few actual solicitors involved in the process, and next time you'll know to pay a proper fee for a professional.

If you have a specific question about the process do post it. There are lots of lawyers on MN who are happy to help. Probably best not to insult their whole profession when you do so though.

Fuck all unless prodded, in my experience of many house moves.

No they have standard terms and conditions - but it’s a volume game. They aren’t just working for you but many many other clients - all chasing and wanting things. And lawyers can’t control how long enquiries take or what other parties do