Guide to conveyancing solicitors

When investing in property, choosing a reliable conveyancing solicitor can make or break the timescale the deal is done in, and the quality of the service you receive.

Below is our guide to the three types of property solicitor you may consider using and how this can impact your transaction.

Make sure you read to the end, to find out which choice is the right one, if you want to speed up your mortgage completion and avoid a lot of stress along the way.

Free legals

Many clients are attracted by the prospect of not paying for legal representation, but in life, you usually get nothing for free:

• The service is generally provided by large call centres of unqualified staff, who process the application and are overseen by a legal executive.
• In our experience, they are slower and make errors which can cause delays and add stress to the process.
• The firm acts for the lender and not you, meaning they are representing the lender and not you. 
• Tend to be hidden costs for additional fees and charges which you won’t know about until you are billed on completion. This does not make for the ‘free legal’ service you originally signed up for.

Therefore, whilst on face value they seem a great option, once you dig below the surface there are costs and service issues you may face going forward.

Many lenders have moved away from offering free legal services and have replaced this with cashback (paid after completion of the deal) – or at the very least offer both, so you can make the choice to put the cashback towards the cost of a property solicitor of your choice. This is due to the lender’s lack of confidence in the free legal service.

Your own solicitor

Some clients like to use their own local firm of solicitors who have completed other work for them previously. There are some drawbacks to this:

• Using your own solicitors can cause delays, unless they specialise in property investments. 
• Local, non-specialist, firms aren’t used to working to the standards we demand from solicitors and can get  disgruntled by us chasing them for completion, whilst working on your behalf to deliver a world class service. 
• They may only process a handful of mortgages every year and therefore lack a detailed knowledge and experience in dealing with buy to let and commercial lenders, their systems and processes.

All of the above will often cause unnecessary delays while we have to teach them how to get the job done in the timeframes we demand for you. This can lead to a painful process, unnecessary delays and complaints.

Specialist conveyancing solicitors

There is another way. Over the years we have seen countless clients let down by the free legal services provided by lenders, or the unprofessional and amateurish service provided by the local or regional firms of solicitors. 

So, we went into the market to find firms that had both the experience of a large firm alongside the service and client focus of a much smaller one.

Through our daily work with these firms we are able to monitor service levels and ensure the process is always smooth and effective for our clients.

Support at every step, from our Account Management team

After working with your Mortgage Advisor, you will be introduced to your Account Manager. They will take over the reins in getting your case to completion. 

This means they will essentially be your personal assistant during the completion process, working with you to help you get your documents together, checking them for you and getting them to the lender and your legal team. 

They will provide a high-touch level of service, by checking on the progress of your case regularly, making sure your conveyancing solicitor is progressing your case as quickly as possible.

At every point you should expect to be safe in the knowledge that your case is progressing efficiently and you are clear on what is going on, without having to be proactive from your side at all.

We don’t expect you to take our word on this, if you read our reviews some of the most commented on aspects of our service echo the above.