Speedy Conveyancer - recommendations needed

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Hi,

So looks like my mum has finally found a house after near 18 months of being out bid etc. She's found a new build by a local builder and is a cash buyer so she is skipping the searches and survey and struck a deal with him. However, for that deal to go through she has to promise that everything will be done within 8 weeks. Since there are no searches / surveys required I'm thinking this can be done easily. However, we're not sure who to use in terms of a conveyancer. The one the EA recommended (for some reason we can't use their normal one) has come back with an extortionate quote (over £1,200 in just legal fees not incl the extras you have to pay such as identity verifying etc plus VAT isn't included).

So what I want to know is does anyone have any recommendations for a conveyancing firm that did theirs quickly and had a good experience with?

She is so eager to move after living with me and essentially being homeless and not being able to put down routes (she does not want to live in London where I am and is a country girl at heart). So I just want to make sure this goes through for her.

Much appreciated!

Thanks!

I work in new builds and we recommend PLS solicitors. They are basked in Manchester but everything is online (can do post if required though), they have a portal that makes things a lot easier to sign instead of waiting for the post etc.

They are very fast and easy to deal with.

Good luck! And never go with the estate agents recommendations as they're usually a back hander and the slowest conveyancers!

Solicitors fees are often more expensive for new builds because there is more to check over. I can heartily recommend Walker Foster if you’re anywhere near Yorkshire - we have used one of their conveyancers three times in recent years and she generally replied to us same day. They don’t hang around! Otherwise, go for a traditional, bricks and mortar local solicitors with at least a few people working in conveyancing. Check reviews. Stay away from the online/call centre type firms - nightmare!

I'm sorry but that is a cheap conveyancing amount. I had quotes from 5 local firms ranging from 1257 to over 1900 in the last two months.

These firms are not based anywhere posh.

Yeah, that is not an extortionate conveyancing quote. Cutting corners with conveyancing is nearly always going to be a false economy

You'll have to pay for a decent solicitor. If you try to cut costs, you'll end up with an overworked under qualified one. Any decent conveyancer charges a decent price so they can give full attention to their clients. There's a lot of work involved in a conveyancing transaction.

@KievLoverTwo @jenandberrys @CampervanKween Thanks do you recommend a conveyancer then that worked well for you that can get the job done speedily?

I paid £960 4 years ago for a solicitor. It still took 3 months and I was buying direct from my landlord.
My parents have gone with a conveyancing firm and are 11 weeks in, and still haven't exchanged. They are buying a new build.

There is a lot more work with a new build so you will be paying more although what you have quoted doesn’t sound expensive. Just remember quick does not always equal good. You want a thorough investigation. Some conveyancers don’t touch new builds because of the tight deadline which isn’t always possible to meet if something crops up in the paperwork.

I’ve just searched for surveyors and most of the ones I enquired with had availability within 5-10 days a report within 5 days of the visit, so 3 weeks. Searches also took 3 weeks both on our sale and purchase (different conveyancers) so those don’t have to hold the process up and she doesn’t have to promise not to get them.

Sadly not. When I was trying to buy in March 21 and had a pushy vendor, I called 10 conveyancing firms and not a single one of them would commit to completing within 12 weeks. Things were a lot busier for conveyancers back then though.

Is he really going to walk away and start again from scratch if it's not done in 8 weeks?

All firms will quote 12-16/18 weeks so I don't think his expectations are realistic.

Searches - should be same day turnaround, unless complex title investigation is required.

don’t be tempted to cut corners and go for cut price conveyancing - it’s a false economy.

in Scotland, it is common to have a six week period between acceptance of offer and moving in day, so there is no technical reason why it should take longer than this. Clearly firms quoting longer times are working with a backlog, so your case is just sitting in a queue most of the time.

There are no searches there are no surveys no mortgage my mum is cash in the bank so it is doable in that time

Why no searches?

who advised that?

There absolutely should be searches even if newbuild - what if the land has a dodgy environmental history, what about the risk of flooding or subsidence. Even minor things like is the new address registered properly or is it all plot numbers.

when we bought and sold four years ago we had conveyancing quotes ranging from £2k to £5k so I don’t think the quote is extortionate. I think the builder is unrealistic - the timeframe is not within your mum’s control, she’s likely to be quicker than most, but he’s stupid if he’s going to throw the deal away because at 8 weeks you’re say 80% of the way through.

If the builder is suggesting no searches that makes me nervous to be honest. Are they trying to hide something by rushing your mum through? In our area they are back to taking 2/3 weeks so wouldn’t prevent an 8 week timescale.

We used an excellent solicitor recommended by a developer friend but they would definitely cost more than your quote. I’m not sure anyone cheaper than £1200 would be good.

My point was that searches and surveys aren’t going to hold it up. She should absolutely get one if she wants. The developer making her promise not to do searches and a survey suggests he’s hiding something.

No searches? That's very unwise on a newbuild.

I used PLS solicitors for a remortgage and they were not quick at all. It took them nearly 6 months and their communication was appalling so I wouldn’t recommend them. I use brabners at present and they’re ok speed wise but probably not cheap. £1200 does sound quite reasonable for a new build.

So no one is suggesting that it is through her own choice. It’s a plot of 5 houses not a massive development and one of them is already occupied by a family who did searches and survey so that is giving piece of mind.

will rethink on searches front and offer to pay for those myself. However when I bought last year searches took 13 weeks to come back!

thanks for everyone’s help in terms of this and once again names of recommended firms would be helpful!

I would also like to say the house is 99% finished it’s just trimmings etc that is now awaiting to be done. We are not buying off plan or anything

The market is hugely different to last year. Searches are back to normal now in most places.

Never use the estate agent recommended ones. We had an absolute nightmare with one reeds rains recommended (buying a newbuild and selling to first time buyers took almost a year because they would only work on the file on a Friday afternoon). We ended up having to get the legal ombudsman involved.

If you are in the North West I would recommend Watson Ramsbottom. They fixed the mess that our Last conveyancer left and managed to get it turned around in 6 weeks so we didn’t lose our newbuild.

Definitely do your own searches. They are taking way less time now. Try a local solicitor - I recommend Unsworth Rose for a highly proficient experience. You’ll pay around £2k for this. Your quote definitely isn’t extortionate!

If someone else in the development did searches the. ask who their lawyer was. That firm will already have done due diligence on the title etc so should be a quicker option.

I disagree about never going with the estate agent's recommendation, you just need to do some research. Our estate agency suggested 2, both had many excellent reviews online. We used one of them, and have used her 3 times since, she's the best I've ever used by a mile.