Recommendations for good value online conveyancing companies please

[Wherearemyspecs4]

Hi. Can anyone recommend a conveyancing company please? Ideally online and as good value (cheap!) as possible. Thanks!

To add - we are the buyers, and we actually don't mind if they are slow, as long as they are competent.

Avoid. They're cheap for a reason. I'd recommend putting out a shout on your local facebook page to ask for recommendations.

Thanks @Mumblechum0 . Noted, but what are the reasons for thinking that please? I'm just interested as we used an online company when we sold a rental property 5 or 6 years ago and they were great. I just wondered if there were others who may be cheaper as we are on a tight budget.

We used https://thomaslegal.co.uk a couple of years ago and they were great :)

There are no competent, easily contactable, inexpensive online conveyancers. I speak from experience, having been suckered in by an estate agent, with whom they had a tie in. Not remotely competent, impossible to contact and no clue what they’re doing.

You can choose between competent OR cheap. You can’t have both. Decide if a house deal is the thing you want to save £200 on. This is skilled detailed work, do you want to entrust it to a clerk and AI?

This was our experience too.

In 2024 our EA also had a tie-in to an online conveyancing co. They were so crap - in the first week they sent out the same paperwork three times and we were contacted by seven (!!!) different people who all claimed to be in charge of our file - that we sacked them and went with a local independent who was actually cheaper!

I went local for my 1st house purchase, and they were dreadful. I see that thats borne out by TrustPilot reviews now. I’ve now gone online, and they seem a bit rubbish too (despite good TrustPilot reviews).

Who knows what the answer is.

I don’t think randomly asking on FB is much use, everyone just seems to recommend their partner or whatever.

Everyone on FB certainly recommends the same ones, so they must be friends and family. You can Google local solicitor recommendations, which may be more objective.

I would never use an online conveyancer again. Like @LibertyLily we had several different people apparently doing something! Impossible to contact directly or indirectly, unless they contacted us, which was rare. The EA was rubbish too and we sacked him.

Online isn't necessarily bad (I work in the industry), but you definitely get what you pay for.

Look at Trustpilot reviews. Get a few quotes. How fast and accurate the firm is with the quote will tell you a lot.

For a purchase, why would you not go with the best you can afford? It's going to matter this time, not like when you sold. They're idiot and the agents recommend them because they get a kick back of £500 to do so.

But how do you know who the best one is@TheCheeseTax? It doesn’t necessarily follow that the most expensive one is the best one.

Agree! I've been looking at reviews and prices all afternoon - it's a minefiled!

Are you buying a standard freehold? Anything other than that increases the fees.

I think if your purchase is straight forward, and you are confident of the details and prepared to check everything and do necessary research when required then you can go with an online or "cheap" high street conveyancer as long as you have checked reviews and know that you can always get through to them and that they always provide replies and "truthful" status updates.

I used a cheapish conveyancer who actually had an office but did everything from case management and the rest online in 2018 for a sale and purchase and they were beyond dreadful not just with the inaccuracies but also the lies to the extent that I had to go to their office and demand to see the conveyancer in charge of my file and would not leave until I spoke to someone in authority in the office - it was that bad.

None.

Avoid! Half the time they have hidden fees and you will get caught out! Use a local firm but shop around for price. Smaller firms in smaller towns are usually cheaper xx

DS picked an online company because they were a few hundred £ cheaper than using a local firm.
It was the worst false economy ever.
They were slow and made errors. Had a huge turnover of staff, never told him when his case worker changed, ignored his specific instructions.
At the end of it all DS asked me to check all the paperwork and I found a huge error. It took two years to get it acknowledged and it's going to be a pita when he comes to sell.

For the sake of a few hundred pounds pick a respected local firm recommended by someone you know.

RMNJ are great, we’ve used them more than once. They're far from us but that was no issue and we didn’t have to do anything in person. They pick up the phone, although that doesn’t necessarily mean they can answer your question. Go through Express Conveyancing (they gave the initial referral) as having another contact point to chase them or give feedback can be handy. We plan to use them again in the future. All the best!

We used Let’s Move Conveyancing, they were brilliant, highly recommend

I would contact firms in your area of between 10 - 15 members of staff - a firm who deals with conveyancing, probate, wills and family. That kind of firm ought to have a resi solicitor partner and you speak with their team - get a feel for them. Ask them how busy they are, whether they know the property and the selling solicitors (it takes two to tango - I can be fantastic but if my opposite is a useless prat based in Sri Lanka then there's nothing I can do to move things along). Look at reviews, the bad ones. Look at local facebook pages. Google them, run the name through ChatGPT - ask who will be dealing, then look them up.
Try to put as much into that as you would choosing a new washing machine - both important decisions to make!

I used one recommended by my mortgage broker. They were fine! If you're using a mortgage broker it is also in their interest to chase the solicitors along as they get paid on completion too. I had no issues, he quoted me the cheapest option and I took it.