How Conveyancing Solicitors Have Changed

The forward thinking conveyancing solicitors have embraced the emergence of the Internet to market their legal services online.

Specialist conveyancing solicitor firms have successfully weakening the status quo of using a regional solicitor who traded on the “local knowledge” card.

The reality is, all conveyancing solicitors need to carry out precisely the very same regional enquires and searches.   Many new home developers use solicitors that are based many miles from the developments they’re selling.

So “regional expertise” doesn’t actually now play a significant part in your house conveyancing.

Now with the current conveyancing process, Land Registry and detailed online searches there is no need to meet your solicitor face to face. Everything that needs doing is accomplished by; phone, post and email. It a system that’s been working well for years.

What Will You Find Online

By looking carefully online you’ll discover that prices for conveyancing have fallen but the consumer needs look at the fine detail of various offers they see. Here are the sites which should be view with caution:

Conveyancing Comparison Websites

These sites produce a list of solicitors or licensed conveyancers based on price and location. You choose a company and they pay the comparison site an introduction commission based on the lead or the instruction.

Panel Websites

These sites will offer you a limited choice of solicitors or licensed conveyancers who are on their panel. They will say they have checked the competence and vetted all of firms on their panel. They take a commission of around £150-200 when you instruct a member of their panel.

Estate Agent Websites

Remember the Estate Agent does not get paid until the after the property completion, so it is in their interest to have a good relationship with the conveyancing firm. In some cases the Estate Agency owns the conveyancing firms. They get a substantial referral fee for sending you to the conveyancing firm so it is unlikely you will get the best market price for this service.

Warehouse Conveyancing Sites

Their business model is mainly internet based and they can be backed or owned by very large companies. They operate using call centres (often overseas) and therefore it is unlikely you will speak to the same person twice.

They have a process driven workflow with different staff doing individual parts of the conveyancing proceedure. Some staff will be data processors and trainees. These junior staff are overseen by a team manager who will be qualified as a solicitor or licensed conveyance. In the last two years, with the need to cut costs the team managers are under more pressure as their team numbers have grown.

This type of approach to conveyancing is inflexible and cause major delays especially if the home move is not straightforward.

What Causes the Delays in Completion

The main question and flustration for all people moving home is “how quickly can we move”.

For a typical property the average house conveyancing timescale is in England and Wales is 8-12 weeks,

The timescale should not be this long, most searches are now done online and the local council searches are not taking as long as they did in 2014-15.

So what really can cause the delays:

• The mortgage application and approval process
• Your local authority search
• Dealing with more complex Leasehold transactions
• Dealing with an unpredictable chain
• Slow responses from other parties

When you are buying or selling your home the simple facts are:

• if you are represented by a specialist conveyancing solicitor and so are the other parties then your home move should be smooth and less stressful.
• If you are represented by a sub standard firm then you will not be moving quickly and you move could become a stressful aggravating ordeal.