Choosing a Conveyancing Solicitor – 5 Things to Consider

As experienced conveyancing solicitors, we understand that buying your first home can be both exciting and stressful.  A good solicitor will help you buy your new home as quickly and easily as possible. This is why it’s important you choose the right conveyancing solicitor.

Here are 5 things it’s important to consider when choosing a conveyancing solicitor:

Are they transparent about their costs?

Typically, the costs of purchasing your home will include the fees of the conveyancing solicitors and expenses they pay on your behalf, such as charges payable to the Land Registry when registering your interest in the property on completion of the purchase.

We recommend you look for conveyancing solicitors who are transparent about costs and ask for a quotation that provides a full breakdown of the costs involved.  Some conveyancing solicitors’ quotations don’t mention the additional costs of activities which are often a routine part of the transaction, such as dealing with your mortgage company, paying Stamp Duty and registering your ownership at the Land Registry.

What is their experience?

The experience of conveyancing solicitors differs significantly.  An experienced conveyancing solicitor is very important because they will be familiar with handling all aspects of the transaction, however, routine or unusual.  A less experienced conveyancing solicitor is more likely to slow down the transaction when faced with a non-routine situation. For example, aspects such as Help to Buy schemes, shared ownership homes and new build properties can slow down less experienced conveyancing solicitors.

How responsive are they?

Good communication from your conveyancing solicitors will significantly help your home buying experience.  Naturally, you will be keen to move into your new home as quickly as possible and so you will have lots of questions.  A good solicitor will understand this and will also know the anxiety you will have if they do not hear from you.  A good conveyancing solicitor will, therefore, reply to your calls and emails promptly. As a handy hint, the promptness of a conveyancing solicitor providing you with their quote is often a good indicator.

Will they be proactive?

A good conveyancing solicitor will pro-actively work to progress your purchase as quickly as possible.  This means that typically, they will chase up aspects of the transaction that are required for the purchase rather than simply wait for something to happen.  For example, your solicitor regularly chasing the seller’s solicitors for the sale contract ensures your solicitor can move the purchase forward at the earliest opportunity.  Without this pro-activity, the progress of your purchase will be impacted by the speed of others involved in the transaction who may not have the same priorities as you.

Do they make things easy to understand?

Buying your home is a big decision so it’s important for you to understand what’s involved and your responsibilities.  While the law can be complicated, a good conveyancing solicitor will make it easy to understand what’s happening and what it means for you.  Solicitors who do not explain clearly what’s happening may expose you to unexpected risk or, at least, slow down the purchase because it leads to further questions being raised later.

A good indication of how easy it will be to understand your conveyancing solicitors will be apparent for the clarity of the information provided in their quote.

Read more about our conveyancing services or alternatively, you can contact us at Bradley Haynes Law on 01905 900 919 or at Leigh@bradleyhayneslaw.co.uk