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.

I did a conveyance for my parents, it was a l/h flat and fairly straightforward. I am a solicitor but not a conveyancer but I wouldn't do it again.

A decent solicitor won't cost more any more than packing and removals (sometimes less). Move yourself but pay for a solicitor. Or sell privately without an agent. Agents' fees are at least four times that of solicitors' and they genuinely seem to do fuck all once they've plonked the house on rightmove and allowed it to sell itself in this market. Our solicitor did a ton more work in our sale transaction than our terrible agents.

Use an online solicitor / conveyancer. They need a bit of chasing but nothing major and they are significantly less than £1500.

Why no searches? I buy with cash but still get done searches done.
I remember back in the 80s there were non solicitor conveyancers but they still had a lawyer do the legal bit. It was a lot cheaper. (You could also get searches done in 48 hours and the market was frantic so don't know why that's changed.)
Plus I've only once had a solicitor base their fees on the value of the property. I buy and sell regularly and the price is pretty much the same unless there is an unforeseen complication. Have to say my solicitor is worth her weight in gold and definitely earns her fee.

The conveyancing system normally relies on formal solicitors undertakings for a transaction to complete.

Your seller's solicitor would have to make detailed bespoke arrangements to account for the face those undertakings couldn't happen as you're not a regulated solicitor.

Also I don't understand your comment about not requiring property searches? It would be really foolish to not make those searches before buying a property.

"Saying you would not accept me on the other side of the transaction is blatantly unfair. Is it illegal?"

I think this comment illustrates perfectly why it would not be a good idea for you to do your own legal work.

I did it back in 2006. I wasn’t working (as we were moving), didn’t have kids yet and wanted the challenge (not a solicitor). Seems a bit mad now but all went smoothly and the actual process was straightforward.
Did use a solicitor for the next move though!

It isn't harder to work on a house that costs £500k than on one at £250k is it?

A £250k house can be more work than a £500k house. The flat fee is good because you know how much you have to pay upfront (no nasty surprises) and the % calculation means that the solicitor earns enough overall to be profitable.

No ideas how many hours work is involved. That is a secret so that the cartel is maintained and extra profit ensured.

Are you a Freeman on the Land or some other nonsense?

I'm also a (non practising) qualified solicitor and I would not do my own conveyancing. It's just not worth the risk.

My seller did their own when I bought the house. They were lucky that my solicitor was very helpful as they had no idea what they were doing.
It also meant we had to exchange and complete on the same day as they had no solicitor to hold the deposit funds which I hated as anyone could have pulled out at the last moment.

Oh sorry I see that you are the seller - so you wouldn't need to do property searches.

Do you have enough property law knowledge to reply to requisitions on title though?

I was a property solicitor for years. Selling a property with a mortgage on it as well as the process of exchange and completion relies on professional legal undertakings, which you cannot give. This, along with the ability to answer legal title queries, and the possibility for the need to provide indemnity insurance, which you would find expensive clearly indicates legal representation is needed. I think you have vastly underestimated the skill, expertise and time required to sell a property and ensure that a clean title is transferred to the buyer without future legal consequences and cost to you.

Shop around to get what you think is a reasonable quote. There are plenty of options out there.

OP Saying 'All the details are on the Land Registry' is not a guarantee of anything. I can think of a last two cases in a relatively small local area where Land Registry details have been queried/challenged by intending purchasers - even though the properties had been sold before - and quite a lot of legal work by the sellers' solicitors has been needed to sort them out. Rights of way, access rights and boundaries have particular scope for causing problems.

Did you read @ClarasZoo 's comment at 7:20 today?

No one has addressed the point that solicitors feel entitled to charge according to value of house. It isn't harder to work on a house that costs £500k than on one at £250k is it?

@Sheilablessus

Not read the thread but I did it about 5 years ago. Only caveat was it was from a family member to me. The land registry had a good YouTube video which talks you through the form.

Most solicitors don't charge on the value of the house ime. Surveyors do though

Thanks everyone I will follow up the on-line idea solicitor idea and see what I get.
I have to go back to working now.

This has disaster and a failed sale written all over it, and going for an online firm isn't really much better.
Please be upfront to all potential buyers so that they know what they are getting involved in.
I struggle to understand why people are happy to risk their sale for the sake of £1500 (which in the context of a house price is nothing)

Have at it OP. I’m a solicitor too and I’m off to service my gas boiler this afternoon. Damned if I’m paying those pesky engineers. How hard can it be right?

Well this is what keeps litigation solicitors in work!

@Luckyme2

Have at it OP. I’m a solicitor too and I’m off to service my gas boiler this afternoon. Damned if I’m paying those pesky engineers. How hard can it be right?

Lol at this but it's absolutely the point! Just pay OP it really isn't something to nickel and dime on. Surely this thread explains why?!

@Hippolyte

It costs more because the financial risk is higher. I'm afraid I find your approach extremely arrogant. People spend years training to do this. Never skimp on proper professional or legal advice, it's a recipe for disaster.

This...

I was a conveyancing secretary and if it took 3-4hrs the conveyancer would be twiddling their thumbs, as would I have been...

Absolutely Raindancer! If only!!

I'm pretty clued up on things like this and I know full well I could do a DIY one, but actually the whole house buying thing costs so much money anyway, why potentially fuck it all up by yourself. Theres only yourself to blame if you miss something important. At least solicitors are insured, and have indemnity of some kind, plus they do this daily, I'd do it once or maybe twice and have to look up the process each time.

I think its money well spent using a qualified professional. You could ask around for better quotes or look online at local solicitors most fees are on the websites now.

I'm a conveyancing solicitor and PP's analogy regarding a gas engineer is so accurate

Also, as others have mentioned, the process requires legally enforceable undertakings to produce documents, which you would be unable to give. I wouldn't accept instructions from a buyer looking to purchase from an unrepresented seller. I also wouldn't buy my own home from an unrepresented seller - have my money transferred to your personal account, with no certainty that you would hand over a properly executed TR1 and anything else necessary for registration, and also hope you would deal with discharging any charges? No thanks!