Conveyancing solicitors

[idontknow202]

We are buying our first house and have some quotes for purchase of our property for around 2-2500. There seems to be lots of online quote of 1000-1500 - is this dodgy to go through an online company like this? I feel like it would be better for a smooth purchase to pay extra for local solicitors but wondered if any one has used online ones successfully?

I recently used a local solicitor for selling a property.
It was handy when I had to go in to sign or drop off paperwork.
I think paying a premium for a local office is money well spent.
Good luck. 🤞

Thank you, I just saw the thread below about the same thing. Think it's sensible to pay the extra.

Don’t use online! Always go for a well regarded local solicitor.

We were persuaded by an EA to go with an online one. Suffice to say, they were so poor that we got money back in compensation.

You're supposed to have a designated conveyancer. They don’t communicate, except on their own terms (rarely), they’re rarely available when you need them and just generally unhelpful.

I used one of the cheaper national online companies - absolute nightmare! So stressful! They were absolutely useless and dragged it out months longer than it needed to. Pay a bit more and use a local firm with a good reputation!

ChatGPT did a better job than my 3k solicitor.

There are some worse than useless online companies around. Avoid if possible

I’ve used both in the past and definitely recommend more expensive local solicitor

We have used https://maps.app.goo.gl/tfkuH7NQALCnHMro6?g_st=ipc for a sale and two purchases in the last 10 years. Couldn’t use them for buying in a Ltd Co and the alternative were absolutely shocking. A vendor used a conveyancing company who refused to answer any queries until they had them all so that’s something on my list of things to be aware of in the future. DM used a supposedly good bricks & mortar solicitors and they were absolutely rubbish.

So many solicitors are fully remote now too. It’s best to ask for a personal recommendation really.

I've used both in the past 10 years.

The local ( recommended) one was very poor. Things only got done when she went on holiday and a locum came in. I discovered later that things were missed.

The online one i used was brilliant. Named person, always responded within hours, very fast and thorough, and liaised well with estate agent" chasers" too.

I wouldn't dismiss online conveyancers.

There’s a difference between working remotely and an online conveyancing firm. What OP is talking about is what we call “factory firms” mostly unqualified staff, supervised by a few qualified staff. Their business models is all automated work flows with mostly legal work outsourced to India. They’re essentially call centres. The term “conveyancer” doesn’t actually mean they’re qualified. A Licensed Conveyancer is qualified.

OP you get what you pay for. There’s a reason these firms are cheap. If you want a more personalised service where you can ring and speak to one (or two) points of contact who are actually dealing with your file you’ll have to pay a bit more. If you don’t mind spending your life on hold and speaking to whoever picks up your call in the queue, chose a factory firm. You might get lucky and speak to someone half decent.

OP find a good local solicitor.

@TheSummerof25 I’m a residential property solicitor. I’ve worked for all sorts of firms. My current employer is consultants only.

My point is that it’s now possible to get the convenience of the online conveyancing service but with better people as so many work remotely.

Sorry I thought you were insinuating there’s no distinction in service.

@TheSummerof25 goodness no! I’ve worked for small online Licensed Conveyancers (good) and a big one (bad).

We used Muve (online conveyancer) to save some money but it turned out to be the worst decision we made during the house buying process. They caused way too much unnecessary stress. I’d go local next time even if it cost double.

Check what your £1k quote actually includes as they tend to have lots of ‘extras’ that are actually required parts of the transaction so they end up being the same.

I worked for a bucket shop online conveyancer. One of the reasons I left (other than the excessive workload with zero training or no senior oversight) was the type of work I was given and expected to do. I was there for about 5 months and by the time I left I had HTB, new build, leasehold flats in my caseload. I trained as a solicitor in Scotland years ago so I was aware of the amount of things I didn’t know. The number of serious mistakes that I knew about that went on was pretty scary.

I then worked at a solicitors but they’d just merged with another firm, there were all sorts of internal politics going on, new people brought in who hated the old ones and it was just as bad!

Go with a personal recommendation, never believe a cash buyer and being able to visit the office is a definite bonus!

Me too, we might have been colleagues 🫢

Interesting @TheSummerof25 . Do the company initials PP mean anything to you?