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've dealt with lay person conveyancers before. On both sides.

As long as no mortgage companies are involved it's not as bad as people are making out.

I'm guessing some of the solicitors here haven't done in person exchanges of contract and completion. You don't rely on undertakings! It's a different way and there are systems set up to deal with it.

But it's not worth it. ID and anti money laundering procedures alone are going to over complicate this.

Just pay.

I am a paralegal. You would be mental to do your own conveyancing, even if you could. If you are getting a mortgage it is a no go and I'm not even sure you can register your title deeds at the Land Register. I've never seen anyone ever do this. You would never pick up any mistakes in the title and a contract would be a nightmare to navigate. Steer clear and leave it to the professionals.

Why? Isnt
Moving house stressful enough?

@FinallyHere

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

I did address it really early on. Not all Solicitors do charge on this basis so she should simply shop around.

@ClarasZoo

Well this is what keeps litigation solicitors in work!

@BattenbergdowntheHatches

Crack on, OP.

In a few years time you might find out why so many negligence claims arise out of property transactions. Except you won’t have anyone to sue. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This tbh. You are not neccessarily paying for their expertise (which considering they do it all day every day is considerable) you are paying for their indemnity insurance.

My husband and I met studying law and we just moved last year, our solicitor was worth every penny… and I sent her flowers after we completed, she was that good 🤣

Very interesting to read the contrasting opinions. I have a law degree though never qualified as a lawyer and have moved many times so familiar with the procedure which is after all pretty standard. I've sometimes thought "you're an idiot, you could save money". But the insurance point is well made and I like having somebody between me and the other side, particularly if things should get difficult.

No solicitor who wasn’t experienced for years in the area would ever do their own conveyancing. But you crack on op. Come back and tell us how it went on.

Most solicitors don’t charge based on a percentage the property anymore either. Shop around

Also conveyancing is not at all profitable these days. There are no “secret profits”. Basically in lower cost firms it is being done mainly by paralegals with solicitors oversight. They have to churn a huge number of transactions to make a small amount of money. £1500 is not much at all especially when you consider the costs of searches Vat etc for the amount of work required. And of course the benefit of their insurance policy.

@Sheilablessus

Ok, Thank you all for the replies to me query. I am surprised that no one has been positive toward me. 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? No ideas how many hours work is involved. That is a secret so that the cartel is maintained and extra profit ensured. Saying you would not accept me on the other side of the transaction is blatantly unfair. Is it illegal? One of the reasons I am considering this is because of delays currently in the system. Admittedly mainly on the buy side, and I am selling.

I buy properties as part of my job and I always use solicitors. I only pay £600 in legal fees which doesn’t vary according to the purchase price of the properties. It’s only the cost of some outlays that varies.

It’s £600 well spent.

You are wrong to think that there are no searches.

You are wrong to think that you will speed things up, as you will still be dependent on the others party’s solicitor.

I’d also not buy from someone who did not have legal representation . The fact that you think this might be illegal shows how little you understand of the law.

I don’t know how quickly you think you can do it yourself - my shortest transaction has been 4 weeks and I’ve never had a transactions take long than 3 months. And that was was when there were significant problems which took longer to resolve because of lockdown.

In one, the seller had made unauthorised alterations. In another there was a problem with the Land Registry documents. Both needed the seller’s solicitor to resolve.

In both cases my solicitor spent many hours dealing with it. But she only charged me £600 as it was a fixed fee.

They are the best value solicitors you will ever get.

If you think conveyancing is expensive you've clearly not been divorced .