Conveyancing - how do I pick a solicitor?

[katymac]

Or indeed does it have to be a solicitor? What is a "Chartered Legal Executive2 as I have had one of those reccommended

I don't live near where my new house is, but my dad always said to use a local solicitor for conveyancing....dunno why

A Chartered Legal Executive is a lawyer who has qualified via a different route from a solicitor. The training is narrower and more vocational. So they may have trained to do conveyancing only, for example.

It's not necessary to use someone local though if you do it can be a bit easier in terms of proving your ID and fulfilling the anti money laundering regulations. You may need to visit a local lawyer to get copies of your documents certified. Sometimes there are oddities someone local may be aware of, but most of the work can be done from anywhere.

I agree - there's no need to use someone local. I've always sought personal recommendations from people who have moved recently.

Get a recommendation. And preferably someone who knows the area. As a pp has said, some areas have specific restrictions/ rules that can cause an issue with the legal bits.

I used someone local to the house I was in at the time (the house I was selling) simple because it was easier to pop in and do the docs for the ID checks, and easier to pop in to talk face to face when things went pear shaped!

We've had poor experiences from solicitor firms that cover all aspects of law, but good experiences from the two firms that were conveyancing only firms. One was a cheaper online company, one was a recommendation in the town we were moving from in Suffolk.

we asked friends localiy for reccomendations.

Our buyers (first time) were new to the area. The estate agent gave them a couple of reccomendations. The ea said the solicitor we had chosen was one of the best in the area. But the one that our buyers chose was also really good (a bit too good from a sellers view ha ha) they were really thorough -petty- pedantic.

You can choose a solicitor, legal executive, licensed conveyancer from anywhere in England & Wales. As others say, best to go with a personal recommendation. We sold our house whilst abroad and had no issues with verifying ID or keeping on top of progress.

No need to choose someone local. The lawyers rarely meet so all done by phone and email, as are searches etc.

We got different quotes and went with the lowest.

We asked the agent and got 2 names so I have asked them for quotes

We did one of those on-line get me a quote thing and have been bombarded with emails & texts ever since never again

Fingers crossed

I'm doing mine online, I can't afford divorce and cinventional conveyancing. I'm only taking over the marital home so it can't be that complicated.

You really get what you pay for with conveyancers IMO.

There are lots of online ones who do it remotely but your case will just be another one sitting in their pile. If using a smaller firm you are likely to have someone dedicated to your case who can update you every step of the way instead of calling and getting through to a switchboard who don't know you.

Local firms may also have good local contacts. We bought on a relatively new estate which meant additional paperwork and as the solicitor knew the managing agent she was able to speed up getting the papers. Also meant we could drop off our forms and ID in person saving delays from posting.

We went with an online one, we have had Ballache after ball ache. They don't respond to emails half the time and I wish I went with our local one which our buyers used, they have been quick and amazing and keep having trouble getting in touch with ours...

Agree with pp DO NOT USE ONLINE an online conveyancer. Sadly I'm 6 months into buying/selling and they haven't been good. They've had enquiries from my sellers since mid may and I've chased and chased. Go with a local firm, recommended.

bored I wonder if we have the same one... We were meant to exchange two weeks ago, it's still not happened and no other reason other than," it's on the pile to be done"

We used a solicitor we found online and they were really good. There was an online case tracker to which documents were attached and the other contact we had with them was by telephone. Worked well. They were certainly more responsive than our sellers' solicitor who was local. That git bogged off out for lunch on completion day leaving us technically homeless (I'm being dramatic) for two hours and holding up our moving in as there was no one to confirm they had the money so we could have the keys!

Speaking from personal experience, never use the solicitor recommended by the estate agent/seller.

Well I emailed one yesterday & had a reply at 9:02 so sounds good

Not a big cheap conveyancing body shop.
Not one pushed by the agent or mortgage company

Be careful with old high street firms who may have got very lazy. Questions to ask

• how much is the fixed fee?
• what is not included?
• what happens if your contact is sick or on holiday?
• who is in charge? ( not your contact, no one to complain to)
• how long to respond to calls/emails?

Bear in mind with the ones recommended by the agents that they will be giving the agents a cut which you will be paying for. Do some other quotes too.

I got 5 all with £50 of each other apart from one which was nearly half the price of the others.....it was an online one and I discounted it

Op its only half price because they then spring £££££££ of extras on you along the way, of course these were all unseen in the first instance. I would pay double for a decent one now I am going through the process.

Becky I feel your pain!

That's it - it had to be a con!

who knows - the only way I'll find out is if I get to move in!