Has anyone used 1st Property Lawyers or RMNJ before?

[youngadult109]

We are looking to decide our conveyancer/solicitor today after receiving some quotes. Has anyone had any experience with these conveyancers before?

I think 1st Property is an online conveyancer. And some have told me online conveyancers aren't reliable. Is that true?

The conveyancer appointed by the agent is £200 more expensive than what 1st Property quoted us. But they say they usually provide quicker service since they are in-house. Which should I go for?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

We used RMNJ to sell our house and then later to buy. Was pleased with the service. No problems and I could always speak to someone, whether my named solicitor or her assistant. In times of timing, we had no problems with RMNJ, it was buyers and then our mortgage provider which were very slow.... You can pay extra for a faster service (28 days I think) but other parts of the process and/or chain may not be able to keep to that deadline.

A lot of conveyancers are online now. I work in a high street solicitors which also gets a lot of online conveyancing business. Whoever you choose they will only be as quick as the other conveyancers up and down the chain as a lot of the legal process involves requesting paperwork which has to be requested and then sent on. Then paperwork is scrutinised and usually results in more enquiries or evidence being requested, so it doesn't really make a lot of difference in how quick they are, if the others are slow. I probably wouldn't go with the in-house conveyancer (is it Countrywide?), as staff are often not qualified and only have one qualified solicitor overseeing the work done by assistants.

Thanks JooLoo and Spickle for your insight. We have decided to use a local solicitor in Manchester. They charge just £80 less than RMNJ (£400 less than in house conveyancer!) but we've picked them because it's near to DH's office. So if anything goes wrong, he might be able to pop by. Personally, if it's not because of the location, I might have chosen RMNJ too! But from the review, it isn't too bad so fingers crossed

Spickle, nope the it's an online agent that we are buying from and it's not Countrywide. :)