What's The Best Way To Find A Property Solicitor

[MovingHousethisyear]

We are first time buyers and we have met our Mortgage Broker. Been given the green light to start looking fir properties under £350K. We like to plan for costs and so we are making up a budget list. Conveyancing, Survey, Moving costs, Broadband, Insurance. Have we missed anything?

The next but is that we are just not ready to receive calls from Solicitors. We read up using AI chat that we can review conveyancing quotes without using our contact details. So we did just that.
No personal details conveyancing quotes pulled up a full page of comparison sites.

Just spent time reviewing a few Solicitors. Then we may decide to have a chat to a few of them once we start viewing houses.

The big ask - How do you work out if the Solicitor is any good?

Pricing varies and we found only a few sites that had details on what the search pack included. We have heard that its the disbursements that vary and so comparing quotes is a challenge

Get personal or local recommendations. Ask in a local facebook group.

Pick three and contact them directly for quotes based on a £350k purchase price

personal recommendation is best.

if no-one recommends one, then look up a local hugh street firm to you (not a chain) and look at their website. They publish their fee bandings on there.

Please for everyone's sakes don't go with an online conveyancing firm. It isn't cheaper and they frustrate everyone. You want to be able to make a call and speak to your solicitor NOT a case handler.

Disbursements won't vary much eg a water search costs the same wherever the house is in the same water area. Same for local authority search. A bit of variation on enviro & chancel. Some solicitors charge more for acting for mortgage company, etc.

This. You need personal recommendations: response times, care, communication. They can say anything online! The cheapest are most unlikely to be reliable . Avoid firms that only offer cheap conveyancing.

I asked the estate agent we bought from to recommend as we were buying in England but selling in Scotland. They suggested two and both had fresh and current positive reviews on their websites. The one we chose was truly excellent in every way. I read their online reviews and we got a quotation up front but truthfully it was a leap of faith.

You need a solicitor that is listed for purchases using mortgages. We have bought and moved without a mortgage so have used a solicitor not on the list as they were quicker and more personal.

Legal 500 or Chambers and Partners list firms by region and according to other solicitors' recommendations.

This.

Don't go with the EA "in house" solicitors, get your own. If you live in a similar area then get one that you can visit as sometimes showing up unannouced in person can be invaluable.

You also need to factor in stamp duty costs to your list, which won't be more than a couple of grand as 1st time buyers at that price, but you will still need to have the funds up front.

My son is in the process of buying (first time buyer). I have pm-ed you.

Thanks for this as we are just viewing an apartment on the 6th floor. I have heard that the BSA can cause delays to the process. Maybe I should stay clear of tall buildings.

Just ensure that whoever you go with has actual premises where you can physically turn up and speak with your actual solicitor.

Yes this is VERY important.

Definitely avoid tall buildings if you can. BSA issues can be a nightmare.

Not all online only firms are bad. The one I work for is consultants only, so our fee earners have to bring in their own work. Licensed conveyancing firms who are online only have a justifiably bad reputation.

Look carefully at Trustpilot even if you get a local recommendation.

Definitely look at reviews online. We were recommended our solicitor and when you go to the reviews there are mini-essays on there about how the firm helped. As it’s so easy to fake reviews now you’re looking for them to be different and have details in, rather than short and generic.

Still thinking about Tall buildings. The Solicitor called on time nand mentioned the extra BSA fee. I got an updated quote from the comparison site. So far its saved me time. Pricing wise i went for number 3 on the comparison list as they had really good reviews. Just looking a t a few more apartments this week.

Make sure your mortgage broker is explicitly aware what floor you are looking at- some will not lend over a certain height.
I second others recommendations to go for personal recommendations for a solicitor