Conveyancing a Sale. DIY instead of solicitor? I am tempted to try it.

[Sheilablessus]

A long time ago we did our own purchase, it worked fine.
Wondering if anyone tried it recently.

No I've never done it and I didn't even know you could do it yourself. If I was buying, I probably wouldn't agree to buy / sell from someone who didn't appoint a lawyer though.

Back in about 1980 solicitors had their monopoly taken away.
There were books on how to do it.
Not seen any lately but knowing how active and skilled some of MN are I thought it worth asking.

Ask your mortgage lender as some won't accept DIY conveyancing.

I am a solicitor (albeit not a property specialist) but I still instruct a solicitor for house moves. It is too big a risk not to.

Don't. If you choose the right solicitor you will marvel at how inexpensive they seem for the cost of what they are doing. They do earn their fees in my opinion.

I am I like to think very knowledgeable in terms of property law, conveyancing etc if not dream of it, nor would I buy from someone doing it.

I'm also a solicitor (not property) and we get taught a bit of convenyancing during our post-grad course and I still wouldn't want to do my own.

For lawyers, conveyancers are really pretty cheap.

What annoys me is that they charge according to cost of house. What nonsense!
In a sale which is what we are considering, it is so simple. The house has been sold many times in it's life. There are no searches obviously and all details are on Land Registry. No lender involved.
Why are they talking about £1500. That is a bundle of money for two or three hours work.

It is not two or three hours work and if you believe it is then that is precisely why you should be instructing a professional conveyancer or solicitor. Another non property solicitor here who would never do their own and instruct a property lawyer.

Even within law itself most negligence claims are against property lawyers for incorrect conveyancing.

Also not all solicitors charge based on the sale price of the property. £1500 sounds pretty reasonable. Don't tell me you are one of those who never quibbles the estate agent fee but does the solicitors' fees.

Not something I would consider doing at all.

I too think £1500 is reasonable.

I've done lots of probate so mot averse to diy and not overly impressed by solicitors but I wouldn't do my own conveyancing.

Maybe look for a conveyancer rather than a legal firm?

I'm a solicitor but wouldn't dream of doing my own residential conveyancing. The cost is minimal compared to seemingly everything else involved in moving house and it's an essential part of the process to get right. I also wouldn't buy from someone doing their own conveyancing.

Surely, there have to be fresh searches for each new transaction? All sorts of circumstances - from planning permission applications and chancel repairs to full-blown boundary disputes etc - can change and need confirming. Some of these change month by month, which is why 'old' searches are often not vaild.

Ex gentleman friend was a fully qualified solicitor and a university law professor. He said 'solicitors in practice have insurance; I don't'. (A previous poster has already touched on this point.) He used a solicitor each time he moved.

I work in this field and would still instruct a solicitor, like someone else said you want the insurance and if you think it's two or three hours work negotiating the exchange of contracts and completion et cetera you definitely don't know what you're doing and should not attempt it yourself!

It’s a bit like the old thing that solicitors make more money on sorting out home made will disputes than they do on drawing up legal binding wills.

What you save on the fees you lose in the court.

I am a solicitor. I wouldn't think of doing my own conveyancing.

Another - non-property / conveyancing - solicitor saying that no way on earth would I attempt my own conveyancing! In the same way that I wouldn't attempt to advise on tax law or employment issues; not my specialism, so no chance.

@Sheilablessus

Back in about 1980 solicitors had their monopoly taken away. There were books on how to do it. Not seen any lately but knowing how active and skilled some of MN are I thought it worth asking.

It has always been the case in Scotland that you do not need to use a solicitor for conveyances.

However, as most people are unaware of the many laws involved, it is not a course of action I would recommend.

I worked in property registration for decades, and only ever saw one “home made” disposition, which was crafted by a very belligerent man (he visited the department, so I met him in person) the deed was highly eccentric in its content and phrasing. Calling the then Secretary of State for Scotland “a Nazi” was just one of many memorable phrases in the deeds. He also included a section about how the deed could not be copied or reproduced, showing his ignorance of a basic tenet of Scottish conveyancing - that it is public and available to everyone.

Why not have a go !

Solicitors will always recommend using solicitors, however it’s more than likely you will get a clerk or at best a conveyancer. The idea you will have redress in the future may not always be the case. I have personally experienced a solicitor running for the hills when an issue raised its head, even though it was covered on signing the contract initially. Also a solicitor registering a sale only in my name as opposed to joints names with my wife, caused me several thousands of pounds In accountancy fees sorting the issue out with HMRC 6 years later. A friend only found out after replacing windows in the front of his house, that it was listed and he had to have windows remade into the the original style, the solicitor had died and who ever had taken on the practice didn’t want to know. Another friend had lease issues that had been incorrectly worded, again causing extra expense and in his case time problems.
If it’s a fairly straight forward transaction and you feel confident then why not, if you are borrowing then I think you will find the lender will want a solicitor on your behalf, which of course you will have to pay their fee.

Personally I would not buy or sell from you if you didn’t appoint a solicitor and I have to assume you’ve never really even bothered researching it if you think it’s two or three hours work.

Two to three hours work? Crack on if you think it’s that easy.

What a funny thread 😂

Property lawyer here. Would never do my own conveyancing. Madness

If you need a mortgage to finance the purchase I suspect your lender may not allow it, due to the risk that the mortgage drawdown may end up in an account other than the vendors...there are strict rules regarding solicitors accounts which cover this.