Hi all lifers bit of help needed I've just sold my house and need to appoint a solicitor. Obviously the agents are recommending One to me because of the nice back hander they shall receive, so that doesn't necessarily mean they are good. Any recommendations would be truly appreciated, thanks.
0
Comments
We emailed 3 different solicitors for quote and Kirk & Partners not only came out with less crap on the quote (some list everything including £2.50 for photo copys etc instead of just 'fees') and they were also one of the only ones to actually spell our name right and not make a mistake on the quote or covering email with the selling/buying properties, thats important to me. they were happy to deal with scanned copies and emails which I think sped everything up rather than relying on post for everything. The bloke that we had was a right character though when we went in to meet him, typing one fingered on a wonky old computer, but can't question anything they did.
http://www.freemanssolicitors.net/
At the local level it really is pot luck - and there's really no point paying over the odds for a good one.
If I treated my clients like that I would be ..... well ..... working in a poky bobhole in Eltham High St I guess!
Try Debra Brindle at http://www.brindleslaw.co.uk/--excellent prompt service,always available and an expert in conveyancing.
Since computerisation, forms have become easier and easier to fill and anyone with a bit of diligence, intelligence, some people skills can be a good conveyancer.
The market is very open and profit margins are very small. It's also rather boring. Only high street firms or ones who are able to commodotise the work (high volume compensating for low profit margins) bother with it.
It's the old adage, "if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys"
If you know a really good conveyancing Solicitor, they can save you a great deal of time and money and stress because they are able to resolve the more complex.
I use a Solicitor based in Beccles - he is by far and away the best conveyancer I have ever met. All of the local Estate Agents recommend him because he is easy to deal with, his knowledge and problem solving ability is second to none and he goes the extra mile.
The current climate is not easy for buying and selling houses. The last thing you want is a bunch of cheapskate rookies handling your sale &/or purchase. My Solicitor for example is well known to help re- negotiate the prices in a chain so that it doesn't break when somebody in the chain has been unable to get a mortgage big enough to back their original offer.
A friend of mine who was in a desperate position of needing to sell his house quickly to pay off his creditors and keep his business afloat. He got a decent offer on his house from a bloke who was a cash buyer and he had no onward chain. He asked me if I knew a decent Solicitor and I put him in touch with mine. He also got a quote from another Solicitor. My bloke quoted £500, the other bloke about half that. He went for the cheapest option.
All went well until there was an issue relating to a boundary where my mate and his neighbour had agreed to redraw it. It wasn't as shown on the plan. I took weeks to resolve - the buyer got cold feet and then withdrew his original offer, eventually making an offer £15,000 less. My mate was so desperate, he had little choice but to accept the reduced offer and eventually the sale went through. I told my solicitor about the boundary problem and he told me he could have resolved it within a few days. So in seeking to save £250, it cost him £15,000.
I recently sold my house and I had a similar issue with a boundary and a right of way. The Agent and my buyer got very worried about this. My Solicitor resolved it in a couple of days. I still own the problem piece of land about two foot square on the boundary of the property I sold. It's no good to me, and no good to anyone else but it took the obstacle away. Resolving it a different way, as was the concern of the Agent and the buyer, would have taken weeks and may have lost me my cash buyer.
You can't put a price on experience. My Solicitor was recommended to me. I'd never use anyone else, even if I moved elsewhere in the country (except possibly Scotland).
http://www.iammoving.com/
As for solicitors, I used moneysupermarket, got an amazing deal from a firm over 100 miles away and they were well ahead of the vendor's local muppets
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/conveyancing/
I don't think anything you have said is in contradiction to what I have said. A good conveyancer will be diligent, experienced and able to solve problems. He won't have to know an awful lot of law. Most urban/suburban transactions are not problematic but in rural areas there are more likely to be specific issues particularly if the property has not been sold recently. I certainly would not recommend going for the cheapest quote - a personal recommendation is the best way to go.
A qualified conveyancer who gives a shit about his clients will be way better than a solicitor who does a bit of conveyancing, a bit of legal aid, a bit of family and a bit of probate, whatever piece of paper, the latter holds.