Estate Agent behaviour

[IwishIdidntlikesugar]

Is it usual for an estate agent to say the sellers are asking that you all agree to the same solicitor then you find out the estate agent has actually put you with the solicitors they use (and receive some sort of cut each time) and so now you are both using different solicitors ?

No.

No, use the solicitors you want, they look out for your interests. This has red flags all over and I would ask the EA what they have to hide?
Every time I’ve engaged a solicitor in anything I’ve had to pay a small amount of money upfront, so just check that no financial agreements have been made on your behalf either.
If the process starts off like this… good luck!!

It's normal for them to offer you a referral, although they need to be upfront about any kickbacks.

You then decide if you go with them or not. There are pros and cons but I wouldn't be happy with their manipulation to get you all on board.

No it’s not usual for seller & buyer to use the same solicitor.

EAs take advantage of the fact a lot of people don't know how the system works and try to take a cut of everything generally. They'll often make you feel you're more likely to secure a property if you use their mortgage broker, or tell you the chain is less likely to fall apart if you use their solicitor.

It's all rubbish and it's far safer to use a different firm of solicitors, with no conflict of interest. Their mortgage brokers will charge, but often won't have access to all deals, so aren't worth it.

They try to claw every penny they can out of you, under the guise of being your new best pal and being totally on your side - whether you've employed them or not 🙄

Thank you, but almost every EA (in differing areas) seems to be saying this at the point of an offer being made!).

Thanks all. It does seem a bit of a shady world.

A buyer is perfectly entitled to find their own solicitor and most do. They are gaslighting you if telling you different.

They may recommend solicitors ( & get money from the solicitors if you go with them) but as a buyer you have the right to find your own solicitor. Which most people do so as to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

The EA will ask you on your offer form to name your solicitor. If you don't have one - they will suggest one that they've worked with before and they know does conveyancing. Usually someone local. The solicitor is bound by their rules to act in your interests. Look here for someone you like who does the right kind of work. Find a Solicitor - The Law Society

It’s not a big deal at all if you don’t have a solicitor at the point you make the offer. We never have done. We just say solicitor name is TBC then I phone around a few firms to get quotes or ask a few people for recommendations and instruct a solicitor within a day or two of making the offer.

Many solicitors won’t even consider acting for both the buyer and the seller because of the risk of a conflict of interests, so having different solicitors is a positive thing. However if the agent has referred you to a solicitor because they receive a referral fee, you should have been informed of that.
You y have every right to instruct the solicitor of your choice and you can change solicitor if you wish (although bear in mind, depending on how far along things are, you might have already incurred costs)

No, it's not normal to have buyer and seller at the same solicitors.

The estate agents will offer you a meeting with a mortgage broker, and send you some introductions/quotes from solicitors, but I personally wouldn't go with any they recommend.
It's business, they're all in each others pockets.
I already had my own mortgage broker, who I got through personal recommendations, who was really excellent, and I took solicitor recommendations from him. He sent me a list of about 6 he'd worked with in the past who he thought were good, and I picked one of them.

Personally, I'd keep any ties to the estate agents to an absolute minimum.

No it’ not normal to have the same solicitor, you may end up using the same firm though if you take a recommendation from the estate agent but with different case handlers. Most estate agents recommend solicitors they’ve worked with in the past as they know they’ll be likely to progress a sale but you can always instruct your own.

We discovered right at the beginning of the process that both us and buyer intended to use same solicitor (we'd both used before for previous transaction)
We changed solicitor

This is interesting, thank you. So many have literally said ‘the sellers would like the buyer to use the same estate agent’ and additionally, the last EA one said this was the case but then went and used their own solicitor (while the seller had a different one) then when it was questioned why there were 2 solicitors and had she (the EA) received any cut they denied having said the seller wanted to use the same solicitor. Person above them said ‘sorry about that, fill in this complaint form after its all done’. Yes could change solicitors but money would be lost.