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Original poster

How do you choose a solicitor for buying and selling?

22 replies

089ville · 29/07/2019 11:56

The one the estate agent recommends is 2800, the only other one local in my town is 2600 and putting the details into a random online quote thing brings back one for 1300 with 3.5/5 stars and another for 1450 with 4.5/5 stars. To buy it I only needed so sign one set of documents so doesn't seem to be important if they're local

I'm all a bit lost but apprehensive to use the estate agent one as will be paying for the commission they get

OP posts:
Wildwood6 · 29/07/2019 12:37

Your solicitor can be based anywhere in the country, there’s been some threads on here in the past recommending some good ones. I’d go for a good one rather than one that was local any day!

Mildura · 29/07/2019 12:45

Good rarely translates to cheap.

Are the prices you have quoted to act for you in a sale or a purchase?

thinkingcapon · 29/07/2019 12:48

@Wildwood6 that's not true, you can't have a Scottish solicitor act on your behalf on an English property

AllTheCakes · 29/07/2019 12:54

A good solicitor is worth their weight in gold when things start to go wrong or slow down.

Don’t be tempted by the big conveyancing shops that advertise a flat fee. Your file will be the bottom of their pile and you rarely speak to the same person twice. We used the one our estate agent recommended, they know the solicitors and deal with them daily so they tend to know the good ones. I’m sure some estate agents get a cut from firms though so it is a bit tricky choosing!

PatrickMerricksGoshawk · 29/07/2019 12:54

We were given a list of firms that were 'approved' by our mortgage provider I think, and chose one of those. I think we could have had one that wasn't on the list but it would have been more complicated.
We picked a firm with an office nearby which turned out to be handy as I could pick up/ drop off documents etc without bothering with posting, which I think did speed things up a little.

Wildwood6 · 29/07/2019 12:56

Thanks @thinkingcapon, you quite right, it’s a different system north of the border.

Dec2019mumtobe · 29/07/2019 12:57

Our friends had just bought a house and we asked who they used.

The estate agent offered us the names of some other companies.

We got quotes from all. All were approx the same. So we just went with the solicitors used by the friends as they were happy with the service they'd received. Also, their office is very close to DH's work so he popped ID & documents in, signed things etc.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 29/07/2019 13:19

IMO personal recommendation is the best, but it should be fairly recent, since sols do move on.

I would never have thought that using the EA's recommended sol was the best idea, but when dd bought her first house, in a new area and with no recommendation to go on (our local high st one we'd last used was hopeless) she did use the EA's choice and I have to say it was all wrapped up amazingly quickly - offer accepted to getting the keys in 6 weeks! I'd told her to expect 3 months.
Presumably they work together to move things on - and pocket their fees.
It wasn't any more expensive than the average, either.

Mildura · 29/07/2019 13:27

Presumably they work together to move things on - and pocket their fees

Or, given the estate agent speaks to more solicitors than most they know which ones are efficient and will get things done quickly.

Any referral fees paid ought to be disclosed.

Original poster
089ville · 29/07/2019 14:07

I did try personal recommendations but they all just used the estate agent ones!

Not planing on using the cheap ones as done want to cut corners.

What I've done is looked at the top rated property ones on review solicitors and asked them for a quote.

OP posts:
MrBobLobLaw · 29/07/2019 14:29

Were currently using Conveyan and they've been really on it so far. They have an app and you do most of it online through their portal which has saved loads of time. They were also the cheapest from the 3/4 we got quoted from but there was only a few hundred pounds in it.

mumdone · 29/07/2019 15:20

If you’re buying and need a mortgage you need to make sure your solicitors on the lenders approved panel.

EmmaStone · 29/07/2019 15:59

I got 3 quotes, including ones recommended by the estate agents. They were actually the cheapest, and so far, I've got no complaints. Our buyers are using the same firm, so I think that can help move things along (different fee earners to prevent conflict of interest). We've got an app that gives us progress updates (which is a bit clunky, but still...). I never expect much from conveyancing to be honest, it can't make much money for the firms.

gingerbreadsprinkle · 29/07/2019 16:08

Go for the one who is local to you with the best reviews on Google. We had a bunch of paperwork issues so it helped that we could be physically at our solicitor's office. We made the mistake of getting a nonlocal recommended solicitor when we were buying and it was a nightmare! We were continuously fobbed off until I complained to the higher ups of the company we were buying from. Please don't underestimate the power of your physical presence to get things done much faster.

isseywithcats · 29/07/2019 19:58

we went with a solicitors firm who had done some work for my OH in the past to do with his work they were good the first time and excellent this time so ask friends who they have used and go on personal reccomendations, as when he wanted a divorce lawyer the firm that looked good were useless

AquaPris · 29/07/2019 20:02

PIL or my parents chosen solicitor was who we used tbh

blankittyblank · 29/07/2019 20:02

I have a Facebook group I follow, which is local to me and full of recommendations. I found my solicitor on there, loads of people recommended her and she's brilliant! Is there any local Facebook group or anything like that you can join?

Kazzyhoward · 29/07/2019 20:07

Definitely go for local recommendations from people you trust, such as friends, relatives, neighbours, etc. Online isn't so go as you don't really know who or why recommendations are made - they could be fake.

We went with the firm recommended by the estate agents (both long standing local firms) and it was absolutely fine.

Jem01 · 30/07/2019 11:01

Go for personal recommendations and like others suggested maybe a local community facebook group?

Amber17 · 30/07/2019 11:39

I couldn't find any personal recommendations, so we went for a local one - local to us, not the property. The ability to turn up on their doorstep to ask questions does seem to have sped things up on occasion.

Blobby10 · 30/07/2019 11:58

The advantage of using a local solicitor is that when you need to send in things like driving licence or other proof of ID its much easier to do it in person! Plus if there are documents which need signing, again, much easier to post through a letterbox after hours than trust them to Royal Mail! Like PP have said though, its also helpful to be able to visit the offices in person to find out why something isn't being done very quickly Grin

Neet90 · 07/08/2019 02:39

When buying our first home we picked some random cheap solicitor we found online, it was fine. Now we are buying and selling we have picked a local one so I can go and nag if need be

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