Finding A Conveyance Solicitor

Written by The Landlord on 05 Dec 2006

Today I wasn’t as productive as I planned to be. It’s weird (or perhaps it is normal. I’m confused), sometimes I just completely lose interest in this entire project. On occasions I’ll just randomly stop and think to myself, “Why am I doing all this? Do I need the stress?”. Then moments later, I snap out of it, and find my focus again. I have similar patterns when I take interest in a woman. Usually after sex, I completely lose interest. A few days later, they suddenly become attractive again. It’s like some voodoo magic kind of shit.

Looking for a Conveyance Solicitor

I spent the entire morning looking online for a Conveyance Solicitor that offered a good service for a great price. I also planned on looking into mortgages, but I didn’t have the mental energy to progress that far. A conveyance solicitor handles all the legal paperwork which is required for any property purchase/sale.

I did a basic search on Google for “conveyance solicitor”, in response I got a long, wonderful list of companies offering their legal services. I went to about 10 different sites, and filled in their online quote forms.

What is Conveyancing?

Conveyancing is the process of legally transferring ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer.

There are five main steps of conveyancing for a buyer:

• Pre-contractual stage- this is the stage where documents are prepared to transfer ownership, once an offer has been agreed buy the buyer and seller. The documents will include boundaries of the property, any fixtures and fittings that come with the property, the sale price of the property, any planning restrictions, the completion date, and any legal restrictions on the property.
• Exchange of contracts- when both parties are happy with the contents of the pre-contractual stage, they sign final copies of the contract and send them to each other. Once contracts are exchanged, the agreement is legally binding and usually neither party can pull out without paying a penality.
• Between exchange and completion- after the contracts are exchanged, the following is usually done at this stage: preparing documents to transfer ownership, check mortgage documents, land registry checks, arrange transfer of funds, and check to see if all agreed tasks set out in the contract have been completed e.g. any agreed repairs.
• Completion- this is the stage where all matters between exchange and completion have been completed, the money for the property is transferred from buyer to seller. The sale is now completed and the keys are handed over. The property now belongs to the buyer.
• After completion- once the exchange is completed and the property has a new owner, the property needs to be registered with the new owner with the Land Registry, pay stamp duty and tell the insurers that the exchange has completed.

What is a Conveyance Solicitor?

A Conveyancer or Conveyance Solicitor will handle all the legal work mentioned above. They will arrange all the legal documents and represent your purchase, ensuring everything transfer smoothly.

How much does a Conveyance Solicitor cost?

I slowly began to realise how crafty conveyancing solicitors can be; I compared a lot packages offered by various companies. A lot of the firms added on several unnecessary fees.

Some conveyancing firms stipulated that they would charge extra if a deal wasn’t completed with in a certain time scale. I found that pretty unappealing, because it means that even if they weren’t necessarily going to do extra work from a standard property purchase, they would still charge more because of possible delays i.e. the vendors solicitor could cause a delay. What if a delay occurs through no fault of my mine, would I have to pay extra for that? I don’t think so.

I got my cheapest quote from a firm called Joslin Rhodes, you can find them at www.joslinrhodes.co.uk. Their package included all mandatory charges, with a conveyancing fee of £295. And that was pretty damn good compared to the other cowboys I found lingering on the Internet.

**UPDATE**
I removed the conveyancing company’s name because I don’t endorse them. I wasn’t satisfied with the service they provided me with.

I gave the company a call and they gave me a full break down of the costs. Everything seemed reasonable so I went ahead and agreed to use their conveyance services to represent me in this venture. I should receive a welcome pack with a full break down of the costs and terms & conditions with in the next few days! That’s nice of them, aye? I also told them to add an additional fee of £39.95, which covered me for a “no completion- no fee” insurance policy. It’s always a good idea to cover your back.

I’m told that in general, for a property costing £100,000, you should expect to pay about £550 in fees. However, the property i’m purchasing costs £165,000, and i’m paying just under £300.

Tips for when choosing a Conveyance Solicitor

• It’s important to get a FULL quote before agreeing or signing for any service. When you get a full quote, there should be a breakdown in a list format- make sure they are ALL required, and not just thrown onto the pile so your solicitor makes a little extra cash at your naive expense.
• Always go with a company that offers a “no completion- no fee” insurance policy
• ALWAYS get a few quotes, so you can compare value
• Leasehold properties will cost more than Freehold properties as they involve additional work checking the lease
• Ask your friends and family if they can recommend any Conveyance Solicitors
• Be aware that the cheapest Solicitors are often found online, which means there is a good chance their offices won’t be located near your home. This can often be irritating in two cases (from my own experience). Firstly, it means there will be a lot of documents being mailed back and forth. Secondly, if there are any problems, the situation usually has to get handled over the phone. I personally prefer physical presence. The alternative is to pay a little extra and find a local highstreet Conveyance Solicitor.
• Some conveyancing firms stipulate that they charge extra if a deal isn’t completed with in a certain time scale. They charge extra for delays. It’s best to check if the quote is fixed, or dependent on conditions like time.

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