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Original poster

Advice wanted on finding a solicitor for home purchase - should we use the one recommended by the estate agent?

30 replies

housenovice · 19/11/2021 12:22

Hi, FTB had an offer accepted in principle to buy a house. The estate agent has asked us for solicitor details asap to proceed and suggested we use their recommended solicitor.

Can I check if this is advisable or not (presumably it's important our solicitor is independent and working for us)?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of going for their recommended solicitor?

Should add that we don't have a solicitor of our own - never bought or sold before. I don't have any friends or family members who have bought property recently to ask for recommendations as all those who own their own place bought some years ago.

Any suggestions on how best to find/choose a solicitor other than the one they have recommended? The vendor/estate agent is keen for us to proceed quickly.

Thanks.

OP posts:
WhatAWasteOfOranges · 19/11/2021 12:28

Make sure it’s a no sale/purchase no fee contract so you’re not too out of pocket if the sale does not complete.

Pros are that the solicitor should have an existing relationship with the estate agent which may help when estate agent is chivvying along the sale.

Negs are that they will receive a commission so can’t be totally impartial when recommending

justbegoodforme · 19/11/2021 12:37

Ring local firms of solicitors yourself, you should be able to speak to actual conveyancer who will work for you. Get a feel for them, check their reviews. Estate agents are commission driven and don't always have your best interests at heart.

justbegoodforme · 19/11/2021 12:37

Ring local firms of solicitors yourself, you should be able to speak to actual conveyancer who will work for you. Get a feel for them, check their reviews. Estate agents are commission driven and don't always have your best interests at heart.

ClaudiaWankleman · 19/11/2021 12:39

I wouldn't, because I wouldn't trust them to be the best.

Ask a neighbour or a friend who has recently bought a property who they used, or at a push ask the local FB group for a recommendation. The process will only move as fast as it can, and this doesn't just depend on the solicitor but also the mortgage lender, surveyor etc. You choosing a solicitor won't significantly affect timing.

InaccurateDream · 19/11/2021 13:20

We used a local solicitor with links to the EA, but only because we got some other quotes and theirs was the most reasonable and they had good reviews.

I'm sure it's often not advisable. But one benefit was that sometimes the EA spoke to the solicitor so I wasn't doing all the chasing on my own.

JustPurple · 19/11/2021 13:21

Based on my recent experience, I definitely wouldn't.

I instructed a solicitor I'd found myself. She was responsive, organised, and amazing. However, the people up the chain used the estate agents' recommended conveyancing centre. They're awful. We're still not there after 9 months on a very simple sale.

Down the chain is similar but not as bad. Their recommended solicitor won't send any documents by email, only the post.

Mildura · 19/11/2021 13:30

It depends.

Some solicitors will be recommended by the agent because the firm of solicitors is paying a commission to the agents. This is not an ideal scenario.

Other solicitors will be recommended by the agent because the agents deal with solicitors all of the time and know who is good/efficient and can direct buyers/sellers accordingly.

Sparkai · 19/11/2021 13:39

@InaccurateDream

We used a local solicitor with links to the EA, but only because we got some other quotes and theirs was the most reasonable and they had good reviews.

I'm sure it's often not advisable. But one benefit was that sometimes the EA spoke to the solicitor so I wasn't doing all the chasing on my own.

The EA speaking to the solicitors should happen in any house move, regardless of whether the solicitor is the EA's pet one or not.

I absolutely wouldn't use the EA's solicitor. You need someone acting only for you. The EA and vendors solicitors are acting for them, you don't want anyone with any conflicting loyalties.

HOA.org has a good list of questions to use to vet solicitors. Ring some this afternoon for quotes. I'd also recommend a real solicitor rather than a conveyancing house

Whataday21 · 19/11/2021 13:41

Get 3 quotes.

WhatsWrongWithMyUsername · 19/11/2021 13:45

I’d advise not to. I have because I thought the liaison between estate agents and solicitors would be better, easier for the estate agents to help give solicitors a kick when they aren’t responding.

But in my case it was part of a bigger chain, so run by a team 300 miles away, no personal service. Even the estate agents couldn’t get a response from them.

A local firm of solicitors who pride themselves on customer service would be much much better.

Clementine8 · 19/11/2021 13:51

I would if it was a local firm but not a conveyancing centre. I would also still ask about to see what reviews are like

SpiderMother · 19/11/2021 13:55

No, I wouldn't. MIL was talked into signing up for this by her EA when she moved before we could advise her not to. First firm send out all the forms and got her to complete them, then decided after a few weeks they were too busy, so subcontracted and she had to start from scratch. Both firms were hundreds of miles away and the second one increasingly impossible to get hold of. In the end, they had a recorded message saying due to volume they didn't take incoming calls. MIL nearly lost house due to delays and it was horribly stressful.

Eviebeans · 19/11/2021 14:04

I have -EA gave 3 recommendations at different price levels, they made it clear that if we used one of their choices they would receive a fee. I chose local one and have used again since.

kweeble · 19/11/2021 14:04

I used a proper local solicitor who was recommended to me. Avoid distant conveyancing firms as I know of one that took ages to respond as they were working from home.
If I trusted the estate agent and knew it was a local solicitors firm then I may ask for a quotation.
It is best to have a contract where you only pay for searches if the sale falls through.

nzborn · 19/11/2021 14:05

I did and they were useless.

Bostonbullsmumma · 19/11/2021 14:21

I recently used one recommended by my mortgage advisor- worse decision I made! I'd use local and cheapest isn't always best!

Jarstastic · 19/11/2021 14:45

If you say whereabouts you are maybe a mumsnetter can recommend. You could ask for a pm if you prefer.

Original poster
housenovice · 19/11/2021 14:56

Wow, thanks everyone for responding - really helpful.

OP posts:
Kite22 · 19/11/2021 15:08

My dc is in same position.
Trouble being, although between us we know a few people who have bought recently, NONE of them would recommend the solicitor they used Shock
One person had been recommended the firm they used by 2 other people, but had a different solicitor within that firm, and she was really poor.
In the end they got 6 quotes, including the one from the EA, and have used the one the EA suggested on the basis they were amongst the price range of 3 of those quotes and.... why not ?
Trouble being, none of us use solicitors regularly enough to really be able to compare.

Original poster
housenovice · 19/11/2021 15:13

The solicitor they recommended has come back with a quote for just shy of £1500 - and not sure if the would include everything required.

Also, no reference to paying less if the sale fell through. Does this sound like a good or bad deal, anyone?

OP posts:
justbegoodforme · 19/11/2021 16:07

Ring the person and ask questions, if they're not available or don't ring back that would help you decide maybe

SpeedRunParent · 19/11/2021 18:01

I really wouldn't. You need to be sure your solicitor is working solely for you.

Xfox · 19/11/2021 18:43

I imagine prices vary by area. Also they usually have different prices depending on purchase price. All my quotes have come back less than that (house is under £150k)

Get quotes from others in your area. Just Google. You will find a lot have standard prices for conveyancing on their websites too, which will give a guide. EA was like a dog with a bone with me, I think it's just EAs (he also looked like a kicked puppy when I said I wasn't using their recommended solicitors).

Don't dawdle, but don't let them rush you into a decision.

Starseeking · 19/11/2021 19:43

I would, though with some hesitation. My solicitor for my current purchase was 1 of 3 recommended by my EA. She was the most proactive, not the cheapest, though in the mix, and I've never had to really chase her about things, as she's already on it.

My EA also recommended a solicitor to my vendor, who appears to be the slowest in earth! Offer was accepted back in July, I'm still waiting for suggested exchange and completion dates. There's only me and the vendor in the chain (she is buying a probate property, which has already cleared probate), so the one thing which could be holding it up as that solicitors probably didn't start their work until the beginning of October, when the SDLT holiday finally ended. So much for them being good; it feels like they're just stringing me along!

MilduraS · 19/11/2021 20:32

I would if it was a local solicitor to the estate agent. Less so if it's a generic online firm who are more likely to have referral fees.

When I worked at a law firm there was one particular agent who regularly recommended clients to the head of conveyancing. They'd been working together for 25 years since back in the day when the firm had an office across the road from the agent (long since gone). The head of conveyancing was absolutely lovely and a complete workaholic who would bend over backwards to get things moving as quickly as possible. My favourite being the time he got fed up of his calls not being returned and turned up at the reception of another law firm across the road and said he'd wait for the conveyancer to come down and respond to him in person.

There were never any referral fees (too dodgy), the volume of work was more than enough. They used to have a telephone meeting every morning at 8am before we opened to discuss where every sale/purchase was and what would be done next. If the agent called, his call would be taken no matter how busy it was. None of the other agents had quite as close a relationship with the firm.