Choosing a solicitor

[Mcmcmcmc]

How do you decide which Conveyancing solicitor to go for? I got some quotes online, the difference in fees was between £1,100 for the lowest and £1,800 for the highest... both seem to be large firms with good reviews. Is this the sort of thing where you get what you pay for? Anything to look out for to avoid a bad one?

imo you probably get what you pay for.

My tip is to only go with a firm that agrees to mail or email you without delay copies of any info they get sent. That way you can keep on top of what's happening and check for yourself (in real time) that there are no lurking problems.

We chose a local solicitor so it was easy to pop in with id, documents etc.

Maybe see if anyone you know can recommend one locally? Or tell you which ones not to use!

Thecatisboss I don't think it is necessarily true that local solicitors are better. A local solicitor may want to keep their relationship with the seller's EA sweet in the hope of future referrals, which may lead to a subtle conflict of interest.

Forgot to say i wouldn't go for an online conveyancing firm as they can be pretty rubbish - our purchasers used one and they delayed everything. So I'd agree that you get what you pay for.

I would definitely not go for a solicitor recommended by the sellers' EA.

I did used to work for an estate agents and the solicitors didn't get any kickbacks from estate agents in our area, nor would we recommend any.

We did look at purchasing a new build and the builder wanted us to with their recommended solicitor which we refused as didn't see how they could be impartial. The solicitor we ended up using pointed out issues and we ended up withdrawing because of them from that purchase.

I am not talking kickbacks. I am talking subtle conflicts of interest where the solicitor's priority is to keep their relations with the seller's EA sweet rather than to rock the boat if any problems arise.

I don't think you can assume all estate agents operate with malign intent. We're going through a house purchase process now, and the agents have appointed the very reputable and efficient solicitor we used ourselves for a previous house sale; we're using the conveyancer recommended by our neighbour, and she's excellent.

Ask around, OP - it can be done online from a distance if a friend has had a good experience with a firm local to them.

It doesn't take malign intent to have a subtle conflict of interest, it just takes an unconscious desire to prioritise future work over the interests of a current buyer.

Oh, Sophie, give it a rest. Seriously.

NaiceHamble You are being very controlling telling me to shut up, when I am trying to give the OP good advice. Why do you want me not to try to advise the OP?

not the bank one. Not the EA one. Neither will have any incentive to do anything except as little as possible.

ask questions.

• when your contact goes on holiday, what happens? (many old firms don't know about delegation?)
• what time does business stop? What time does business stop on Friday? (golf-course...)
• is it a fixed fee with defined exclusions? If the sale or purchase does not go ahead, what items can be reused?
• any extra charges?
• time to respond to emails/phone calls/letters? If this is met with snorts or patronising 'when we get round to it', go elsewhere.

be very careful with one man high street 'old family firm' dinosaurs. Had one of those on the other end of the transaction, idle sods. Equally super-cheap conveyancing shops are not a good idea.

solicitor does not have to be local.

I once had a solicitor, who did not inform me that she had been told about a restrictive covenant on the property I was buying (the covenant was a deal breaker for me). I later found out about the covenant myself by accident. The solicitor's response was that she would have told me about the covenant in a report that she would have given me before exchange. Hence my advice to choose only a solicitor that agrees to pass on any info to you as soon as they receive it themselves.