Paying solicitor upfront?

[Rozziie]

Hi all,

I've had an offer accepted on a property and am looking into solicitors. The one I'm looking at is an online firm and want all the money paid upfront. They will refund all but search fees if it falls through but I'm not too happy about paying upfront. Is this just the norm?

Look for a different solicitor

Ours was online but only wanted the search fee up front - nothing else until exchange

Would you recommend them? This one is Juno and they otherwise look good but I'm not keen about paying that much money upfront!

Yes they’ve been very good - not lightening fast on returning calls but they’ll respond in 24 hours

premier property lawyers was who we used www.premierpropertylawyers.com/

Don’t use online solicitor. They are a nightmare when you need anything doing urgently. They also should only charge for fees upfront

@Iamsodonewith2020 I just thought it would make it a bit easier as i'm autistic and don't cope well with phone calls or going into offices, etc.

Open to any suggestions or recommendations, especially in SE London!

My vendor paid upfront and their solicitors were incredibly slow and incompetent. I would avoid any that wanted money up front, apart from the searches that is.

I used a normal solicitor and haven’t really had any phone calls/office visits. They had a portal which I filled out all the forms through and was able to upload documents. So a lot of it has been online and via emails anyway.

I haven’t had to have any contact with my solicitor other than when I dropped papers off. I preferred to communicate by email and my vendors are older and preferred phone calls.

I'd be surprised if you had to go into the office for any solicitor, especially with Covid.

Phonecalls are likely to be just as avoidable or unavoidable with either type of solicitor, but generally, "real" solicitors get much better reviews than online ones.

We paid a proportion of our fees upfront - About 25% of the total for each transaction (sale and purchase).

I used Juno. It went fine until it didn't and then had weeks of chasing them by email, phone, for the smallest update. The dashboard was never updated and it was impossible to speak to an actual solicitor, just customer services all the time. Friends have used them without issue but I wouldn't again. They did, however, refund the money I'd paid upfront, as promised in the T&C. So that's something.

I paid upfront (I was buying) and my solicitor was great. I assumed paying upfront was standard in London

OK, I think I'll look up some local ones in SE London...personal recommendations still very much welcome!

I just paid for the searches up front.

I would not part with another bean if I were you. They are slow enough as it is - what incentive do they have to get their finger out if they have already pocketed the dosh?

You don't need a local solicitor since it's all over email and post. I used my parents' solicitor which is 200 miles away from me. Just find one with good reviews if you can.

@Mischance

I just paid for the searches up front.

I would not part with another bean if I were you. They are slow enough as it is - what incentive do they have to get their finger out if they have already pocketed the dosh?

Yes exactly this is what worries me. They do say you get a full refund if you don't complete, but that's still hassle and stress and waiting to get it back!

Our buyers instructing an online firm was one of the main reasons for us pulling out of that sale. They were useless - just as useless as their online estate agent

@ABCDEF1234 was it Juno?