Conveyancers are the Backbone of a Property Transaction
Who you instruct on one of the biggest purchases of your life is paramount. They can make or break a transaction and save you from the heartache of losing the home of your dreams
HOW TO FIND A GOOD CONVEYANCER
You have thought long and hard about moving and buying a new home; evaluated your financial situation and looked at the lifestyle implications. For first time buyers you have scrimped and saved for the deposit. It is scary stuff! You have had big questions ruminating in your head, are we making the right decision, can we afford it? Can we get a mortgage? Or for sellers, ‘Do we want to sell the family home?’ ‘Are we going to be happy downsizing?’ But you have finally decided to put in an offer on a property or put your property on the market. Good on you! You are going for it! It is a big decision and now you must make another major decision.
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO INSTRUCT?
Who you instruct on one of the biggest purchases of your life is paramount. Who you instruct can make or break a transaction and save you from the heartache of losing the home of your dreams or having to reapply for a mortgage at a higher interest rate. Or worse still, years later when you come to sell, the new buyer’s conveyancer has found that there are issues on the property Title which should have been resolved before you purchased the property.
Who you instruct can help elevate your stress levels. Buying and selling property is just under the stress level of dealing with a death and divorce.
Your first port of call is to ask friends and family. They are invaluable in giving you advice and recommendations on who to instruct. Many of you, we know are returning clients or have obtained a recommendation of our service from family and friends; 60% of our business comes from returning clients or from client referrals and we are very proud of that.
BE WARNED:
As mentioned above your first port of call is to ask friends and family, but please be careful if you belong to a WhatsApp group and do not accept any recommendation from group members you have never personally met. Please click here to read about recent fraud scamming methods. Follow the link for more information: Action Fraud warn of recent WhatsApp scam hitting community and religious groups | Action Fraud
WHEN SHOULD YOU INSTRUCT A CONVEYANCER
The short answer is – EARLY!
Traditionally, buyers and sellers have tended to wait until either they have secured a buyer or found a property to buy before instructing a conveyancer.
There is no reason not to instruct a conveyancer as soon as you begin to think about selling or buying – you can complete all the necessary paperwork in the client care pack and the necessary ID checks and the mandatory anti-money laundering process. Obtaining all the right documents pertaining to the property can sometimes be very time consuming. This is especially true if you are selling a leasehold property because your conveyancer will have to obtain information from your Freeholder and/or Managing Agent.
FEES:
It can come as a shock when you obtain a conveyancing quote, in addition it can be confusing when comparing quotes.
We suggest that firstly you look for a conveyancing company who offers a guaranteed fixed price quote. There is a temptation to go for the lowest quote, but you must look at quote……do they guarantee a fixed price quote, or have you been given a list of addons which maybe charged at the end of the transaction. Some online conveyancers are notorious for addons, and may charge extra for completing an exchange and completion within a ten-day period. In addition they may charge you an archiving fee, or try to upsell unnecessary indemnity policies and after all the addons you may end up paying more than the other quotes you previously obtained.
The cheapest conveyancer/solicitor is rarely the best. In fact, the cheapest are often the busiest and in turn the most difficult to contact, and usually the slowest. Choosing an overworked, underpaid, unqualified case-handler will not help you to secure the property you are after and within the timeframe you require. Do not fall into the trap of saving £££’s on conveyancing fees only to make the process more stressful and lengthier for yourself! Or suffer the heartache of losing the property.
REVIEWS:
It is important to look at the online reviews, but be savvy. We have been approached by businesses who have offered to write 5-star reviews for our business at a cost. Our response was ‘We are not interested. We work for our reviews; we do not pay for them’. Can we suggest that you check the Google reviews and go on to Trustpilot and research every company you have contacted for a quote. You need to be aware that some 5-star reviews may have been paid for.
Firstly, filter the 1 and 2-star online reviews, and ask yourself, ‘What are the themes running though the lower scoring reviews, are they complaining about responsiveness, communication, or not feeling like a valued client?’
Secondly, filter the reviews by date; see if there is a pattern of a 1-star review followed by numerous 5-star reviews; the 5-star reviews are usually done next day and in quick succession. Do the 5-star reviews sound genuine? Are they using the same language?
ESTATE AGENT REFERALS:
If your estate agent has referred, you to their ‘pet conveyancer’ you are under no obligation to use them.
The estate agent is required to be transparent on conveyancing and mortgage referral fees, they are obligated to inform you of how much they are getting paid for the referral. For many estate agents, ‘cross-selling’ (as it’s known) is in their job description, and they are required to meet referral targets. With large referral fees to be made, some estate agents’ recommendations may well be serving their best interests – not yours! Saying that, do your research. Google and search the Trustpilot site, using the method mentioned above.
We do have relationships with estate agents and mortgage brokers who continually recommend us, but we never pay them referral fees. They recommend us because we have long-standing relationships with them, and they know that the team will work hard to get the transaction to completion. And afterall, why would we pay to BUY business when we can invest the money into supporting the team, providing robust IT systems and the delivery of quality service?
CONVEYANCING COMPARISION SITES:
Several of you may have done a Google search looking for a conveyancer/solicitor! The first Google page usually shows three or four comparison sites; with each comparison site having numerous conveyancing companies requesting you fill in the required details and hey presto, within in minutes you are inundated with quotes; with a click here to instruct and a click here to obtain our information pack. It seems so easy; they have good reviews on the comparison site, and it takes the pressure off if you just click on a button to instruct. Sorry to say, we recommend that you use Google and Trustpilot to obtain the reviews and do not rely on the reviews from the conveyancing comparison site as they might not truly reflect the service offered. Beware that conveyancing companies who are on these comparison sites pay a fee, which they will have to pass on to you.
COMMUNICATION:
Communication is paramount whilst going through a conveyancing transaction. You need to feel confident that you can contact your conveyancer/solicitor and that any issues that arise are responded to in a timely manner. Buying and selling property is a personal journey! The conveyancer/solicitor who has been allocated your file needs to know your story. The company must be responsive and have your best interest at heart. The conveyancing support team all need to be working towards the goal of you getting your transaction through to completion. You should never feel that you are just a case number.
WHAT YOU DON’T NEED TO CONSIDER
LOCATION:
Even though you may personally prefer it, the conveyancing company does not need to be local to your new property in order to deal with the process. As long as, they are capable of representing you in the appropriate part of the UK (Scotland has a different paying process to England and Wales)
Choosing the right conveyancing company could be the most important thing you do to help you along the buying and selling journey. A conveyancing company who is communicative, has well-informed staff can relieve you of any additional stress.
In conclusion, the differences between a good and bad conveyancer are:
Good conveyancing companies will:
- Have fee earners with an in-depth knowledge and years of experience in conveyancing.
- Be responsive and able to carry out the work efficiently and accurately.
- Have an effective and supportive support team.
- Provide expert guidance and support that’s in your best interests.
- Take a proactive (not reactive) role and push your deal through.
- Help you to negotiate with other parties successfully.
- Speed up the time it takes you to complete on your transaction.
- Have ample common sense and avoid being overly pedantic.
- Be technologically advanced enough to provide a modern conveyancing service.
- Be on your lenders panel of approved solicitors.
Poor conveyancing companies will:
- Usually have to buy business by having to pay referral fees to estate agents and mortgage brokers
- Put the success of your move at risk.
- Fail to read important documents carefully.
- Ignore your phone calls or emails.
- Allocates your file to a team rather than an individual fee earner.
- Employs unqualified, inexperienced case handlers, who need to continually refer the file to the team leader.
- Fail to answer your questions in plain English.
- Take longer than necessary to complete the work as the Team Leaders are required to sign off every stage and check all written communication before it is sent.
- Fail to alert you to potential problems.
- Increase your stress levels ten-fold.
- Ultimately cost you more money
HOW LONG WILL THE CONVEYANCING PROCESS TAKE?
It is hard for a conveyancer to give you an exact answer to the question, ‘how long, on average does the conveyancing process take?’ This is because every property transaction is different, and there are a range of unknown factors that can affect the speed of a property purchase. On average, the conveyancing process takes between 2 to 3 months, or a very straightforward purchase could take as little as 6 weeks. However, there are several factors that can delay your conveyancing, including:
Money coming from other sources – if your purchase money is coming from a transfer of equity or remortgage, it can delay the process if there are any problems with these transactions.
Mortgage offer delays – buyers often think they can get a mortgage offer quickly when it can take some time. Many buyers make the mistake of thinking that a lender agreeing their application in principle means that most of the work has been done. A full mortgage application can only be made once you have found a property to buy and your offer has been accepted. If anything changes – for example the purchase price – the mortgage offer must be amended.
Survey delays – there can also sometimes be delays obtaining a mortgage offer if the lender can’t get a surveyor to value the property quickly.
Problems with title – sometimes your solicitor will discover a problem with the title of the property which needs to be resolved before exchange of contracts. Sometimes the title has not been registered at the Land Registry.
Delay in replies – if your conveyancer makes any enquiries of the seller, it can take time for them to respond. They may have to obtain additional information or copies of documentation such as NHBC warranties or planning permissions. In addition, your seller’s solicitor might not be as efficient as your conveyancer.
Searches – local searches can take time, with some councils taking up to 3 weeks to send results.
There is a chain – when the seller is buying another property or you are selling your home, it is often referred to as a ‘chain’. In such cases many transactions will have to exchange and complete on the same day, to ensure that the funds can be transferred through the various solicitors involved. This means that a delay in another part of the chain will have a knock-on effect on your transaction
WHAT IS OUT OF YOUR CONVEYANCER'S CONTROL?
There are four key aspects that hold up the conveyancing process that your conveyancer has little or no control over:
The other party’s conveyancer – If they are slow to respond and lack of sense of urgency; it creates a painful, frustrating situation for your conveyancer who has to constantly chase them and there’s often very little that they can do about it. This is where you need to have a conversation with your estate agent and get them to apply pressure on the other side. Estate agents have an invested interest in your transaction – they want their commission!
Searches – A buyer’s conveyancer needs to apply to the Local Authority to secure search information for things like planning, drainage, and environmental issues. Some Local Authorities respond quickly, others take much longer, and it also depends how busy they are at the time you’re buying.
Mortgage lenders – Again, some are good and will deal with mortgage applications quickly – it is particularly helpful if your mortgage broker has a good relationship with the lender and their underwriting department.
However, other lenders simply have an ‘it’s on the pile’ attitude, which means a mortgage offer can take several weeks, if not months to move to offer.
You, the client! – The speed at which you and the other people involved in the chain complete paperwork, respond to queries, and organize things like deposit funds is entirely out of a conveyancer’s control.
Additionally, if you are purchasing a leasehold property then there are other players added to the equation. The Management Company and Freeholder! Once again this can be a painful process obtaining the Management Pack and getting them to respond to enquiries.
Finally, one of the most common issues is when someone going away on holiday and not being able to deal with anything for one or two weeks, which is infuriating for everyone. It is important that when you instruct a conveyancing company that you ensure that in the event of your conveyancer taking leave that someone else will be on-hand to progress your transaction.
