Doing own conveyancing (sale)

[mumblechum1]

Has anyone ever done this? I'm a retired divorce lawyer and currently own a willwriting practice so I have some conveyancing experience and training but haven't done any hands on conveyancing for donkey's years.

The cheapest quote I have for the sale is £995 plus VAT, so £1200 in all plus disbursements. I'm fairly sure that acting on the sale isn't rocket science, it's just a matter of drawing up the contract and answering various enquiries, doing the TR1 etc (there's no mortgage).

I will use a solicitor to do the purchase (no mortgage again) as I'm not confident that I'd know the right questions to ask.

Sooo, anyone DIY'd their own sale? Any pitfalls?

Anyone?

You're brave!

IIRC the buyer's sols draw up the TR1 and you draw up the contract. Maybe the contract from when you bought it is with the deeds and you could use that as a guide to deviations from the standard conditions, but I still reckon you're either brave or mad(sorry!!).

I'm probably both Collaborate. I'm going to have a bash at the contract, worst case scenario is I hand it over if I can't do it. £1200k just to do the sale conveyancing seems like an awful lot.

It's so long since we moved and previously it never cost us a penny as DH's company always paid for everything. The stamp duty alone is horrific so I'm being a tightarse on other things

I reckon sale conveyancing is probably easier than purchase which I would never attempt! I think my main hesitation (apart from screwing it up) would be that the buyers or their agents might not want to deal with an individual rather than a recognised firm? Do you have buyers already and are they cool with you doing it?

It's only going on the market today, first viewing tomorrow

Thanks BB!

If I were buying it would probably put me off if someone were doing their own conveyancing in that I'd wonder if they would be less professional and therefore more hassle for me and my solicitor. But if you have lots of interest/offers that isn't a problem for you.

I worked in Land Reg for decades and given the basic errors conveyancing solicitors make I can't see how drawing up the deeds would be an issue for you. A lot of the costs are associated with doing the tax, filling in the forms for registration and presenting to LR.
Having said that, it is very unusual for a member of the public to present anything other than a discharge for registration.

If your buyer has a mortgage their lawyer will need to report that you are unrepresented to the mortgagee (CML rules) and their lender may refuse to lend.

You will also need to produce an ID1 for the buyer's solicit to submit to the Land registry at completion.

You won't get paid the deposit, no-one will trust a non-lawyer to hold the money, that would have to go straight to the solicitror acting on your purchase.

if I was acting for your buyer, I'd probably add £250-£300 to my fee for all the extra faffing around, more if there seemed like extra risk, so beware of putting buyers off as they'll have to pay higher fees.

The quotes you've had for your sale seem very high, I start from £650-£700, and that's in Surrey. Is it a very high value/unregistered property?

What's the old saying about a lawyer who represents themself has a fool for a client?

OP, are you prepared to reveal the approx value of the house? That quote seems very high!

I am happy to recommend a firm I've used three times recently, or try some quotes via reallymoving.com. The solicitor does not need to be near you and the high-street ones often charge very high amounts with no guarantee of service.

I've decided definitely not to DIY; sounds like too much hassle! Selling at around £1.2, buying around £1.4 (tho we haven't got to that stage yet, only went on at the weekend).

In that case it is in the right ballpark, in fact quite a good deal! For some reason it goes as a percentage of house value with most solicitors, no idea why. Certainly for selling it is no extra work for a higher-priced property. I wonder if it is to do with insurances/making sure all is done properly, which is the protection that you pay for. It is really form-filling but I think there are things to look out for.

forgive possible egg-sucking lessons as you are in the trade; but ask how quickly things are dealt with (correct answer is 'that day'), what the best way is to contact them (answer 'phone or email, if we aren't available you'll get a message telling you an alternative') and what happens if your particular solicitor goes on holiday or is ill. Of course they should have a deputising system but not all of them are that smart. And we see a lot on here where the solicitor ignores emails!

as always in the property game - check everything yourself.

Thanks Special