Until
1987 solicitors had a monopoly on conveyancing. The law was
changed to allow
licenced
conveyancers in on the act. Most people still use solicitors
- though this is probably due to ignorance of an alternative.
Solicitors claim they can help with other legal
work and have to have indemnity insurance of £1
million per transaction.
They're
regulated by the Law Society - which should make them
behave themselves - though there are severe criticisms of
how the regulation works in practice. (See
below)
Many
solicitors see conveyancing as boring, low profit/high turnover
work.
Perhaps
because of this they can be very slow - which
can ruin your deal.
Read
enough? Just want a quote? To get
your best mortgage quote quickly and easily we can
put you in contact with a recommended mortgage adviser. It's free,
completely confidential and there's no obligation at all. Simply
fill out the form below
Solicitors
will probably charge you £350 plus VAT
for the conveyancing itself.
Added
to this are the associated costs eg Search
fees, Land Registry fees, electronic transfer fees.
You'd
normally pay these through the solicitor and you're
easily looking at least £600 plus VAT - all
in.
(And
- on the subject of costs - don't forget Stamp
duty - if you're paying more than £120,000
for your property).
If
you're buying in a major city you could save
money by using a country based solicitor.
However if you're buying in the country we would
suggest you use someone in the same region, as they
are more likely to understand local influences and
conditions.
Solicitors traditionally charge for their time by
the hour. However they should be able to give you
a set quote for doing the conveyancing.
Ideally you should get a quote from at least
three solicitors unless you've found a highly
recommended one.
Fees
seem to depend on their firm's overheads, so think
twice about using a firm with a smart, expensive
address. It's no guarantee of quality.
When
getting a quote, ask whether it's an "all in"
price ie exactly what work it covers. It should
include:
Phone
calls,
Letters and postage,
Search fees,
VAT,
Bank transfer fees
Land Registry fee
If
your deal falls through you may have to pay the
solicitor anyway so check this beforehand.
The
best bet is word of mouth recommendations
from friend/contacts who've had a good experience
buying a house.
But
be careful: A good divorce solicitor may do
conveyancing but probably not as well as they
do divorces... in other words make sure the
recommendation is for direct experience of
conveyancing.
Think carefully about using contacts like
your partner's second cousin who happens to
be a solicitor. Buying a house can be very
fraught and if they aren't very good there
may be fallout - which could be slightly
embarrassing at the next family wedding.
Only go to the phone book as a last
resort.
Want a Conveyancing Quote now?
We
have found a great new service which sends
your basic details out to three recommended
conveyancers. They then have to "fight
it out" to give you the best quote and
service. All you do is simply take the best
one (but there is no obligation at all to
proceed with anything). This should save you
a lot of time, effort and stress in finding
one by yourself.
'Fill
out the form Below and we will INSTANTLY send
you a FREE REPORT to potentially save £1000
off the cost of YOUR annual mortgage payment!'
TIME
LIMITED OFFER
Are you looking
for a new mortgage? Well you can spend time reading
this website and work it all out for yourself.
But to behonest
the quickest and best thing you can do is to get
a quote from an independent, regulated mortgage
adviser (NOT someone who is connected to a bank
or building society).
We can put you
in contact with a recommended
professional right now. Simply complete the quick
enquiry form.
Free
Report
In fact we are
so convinced that this is the best thing
for you that we will give you a special
report "The 7 Most Important Things you need to know TODAY before you choose your mortgage".
Your report is short, direct and cuts right to the chase.
So you won't have to waste time and effort reading any
waffle.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The report will only be made available free of charge
for a strictly limited time. After that, we are
considering selling it as a package for £97.00.
So, if you do not request it now, there is no
guarantee it will be available tomorrow… or even
the end of today… for free.
Finally, please
don't worry. We're human too and hate spam.
So your personal info will only be used to get you your
best mortgage quote.
Your quote will be free. And there is no
obligation to proceed with anything at
all.
"Thank
you... the form was very quick. After many long
phone calls to various lenders - where I'd go
over the same details again and again - I was
amazed at how easy you made it. You've saved
me £1000's...."Peter
B, Leeds
