House buying process

Thank you Neil,

I've been waiting for someone to hit that nail on the head. Domestic conveyancing is simply not cost effective for many solicitors, so to make any money (and I don't mean the lovely profit for doing sweet FA that estate agents do) they have to operate on very high volume using low paid staff. Don't expect that the senior partner will be handling your £200K purchase when you are being charged a few hundred quid for your purchase. You makes your choice, pays your money and gets what you pay for.

Rgds Richard

No doubt with those £1M 'bones' the dog in question gives it some attention (no offence to Mrs. S!). With a £500 conveyance fee for a more modest dwelling, a daily kick up the backside is the only way of making sure your own issues are the ones that are chased up first.

Why does the soliciting profession "have" to be involved?.

Cant another way be invented?..

Richard Savage said

While that may well be true from her perspective - what about the solicitor who is just waiting and waiting and waiting for some paperwork but doesn't bother to make a simple phone call to chase it until harassed by the client?

I have found this to be the case on several occasions - so it cuts both ways.

In message , Freda writes

I find the same thing on many occasions. A sellers solicitor is waiting for something from a buyers solicitor, the buyers solicitor thinks they are waiting for something from the sellers solicitor, or vice versa - or one believes they have already answered a query as much as they need to, and the other doesnt.

Often when we query it, they tend to respond by writing a letter.

I cant understand why they dont pick the phone up to each other.

Then we estate agents get the blame for any delays!!!

Two reasons.

1) Covering your backside is the first lecture of a law degree

2) They can charge for it at quite good margin

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Two reasons.

2) They can charge for it at quite good margin Not with fixed-price conveyancing they can't.  How many of you shopped around for the cheapest quote? Richard

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Namely that they are paying someone to handle their affairs - why by a dog and bark yourself? No doubt with those £1M 'bones' the dog in question gives it some attention (no offence to Mrs. S!). With a £500 conveyance fee for a more modest dwelling, a daily kick up the backside is the only way of making sure your own issues are the ones that are chased up first.

None taken.  Just trying add a little bias from her point of view. Liz finds it most frustrating dealing with the solicitors instructed, or more often employed, by building firms

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tony sayer wrote: Why does the soliciting profession "have" to be involved?.

Cant another way be invented?.. One of the things that you are paying for is someone that your lender will give your mortgage advance with only their word as security.  Think about it; your lender will not give you the money to buy your house without some form of security in return.   A typical security for a mortgage to buy a house is the house itself!   You demonstrate that it is securitty for a loan by placing a charge against the property.  You can't do that until you own the property (without the consent of the existing owners!).  A chicken and egg problem.   The lenders trust the solicitor to hold your mortgage advance with no security against an undertaking that they will register the charge against the property at the same time as transferring it into your name. The above applies to licensed conveyancers as well, Of course, if you are buying without a loan you don't need that aspect of a solicitors service.  

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In message , Andy Hall writes

Agreed on the CYA, but most of our transactions involve fixed fee conveyancing.

You can surely understand this from both perspectives. Solicitors I have dealt with typically have little consideration for their client's piece of mind. Solicitors see property sales come and go. It usually all comes out in the wash, with most people happy. For the client, it's a major deviation from the sorts of transactions they are used to dealing with and therefore, quite understandably, want to keep a close eye on what is happening.

I know a good solicitor who schedules ten minutes each morning (for themselves and staff) to give a 10-word summary of what the state of play is for clients in this category. The minute they call/email/fax to ask how things are going, the information is available to all staff and they get a reply within a few minutes. If the client has Internet access, they are able to view this summary (and receive an email notification each time it changes) online.

Interestingly, once said client has experienced this for a week or so, the whole situation becomes more relaxed. The solicitor is left more alone to get on with the work, and the client has more faith in the process and that their case is not being forgotten.

From a client perspective, not being able to see how something is progressing can be worrying. It can mean that the big wheels are just slowly turning, in the right direction, or, as I have experienced a few times when things go quiet, somebody is afoot.

Squawk!

We did something similar, but in 19 days!

Squawk!

In article , Richard Faulkner writes

Yes the legal profession is one that needs an almighty kick up their arses, which they wont get because too many of me 'learned friends are in the houses of parleyment.

The one that I use won't accept any communication by e-mail!. Wasn't all that long ago that they weren't allowed to advertise.

Do they really *have* to be involved at all?, clearly some other system has to be invented.

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