How to choose the best Conveyancing solicitor

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So, you’ve found your dream home, the estate agent has confirmed the sale/purchase of the house, and now it’s time to choose the best conveyancing solicitor!  How do you make sure you get the best conveyancing solicitor, and moreover you don’t get the worst of conveyancers?!

Let’s take a look at the conveyancing process, and what things you should have in mind when you choose the best conveyancing solicitor!

What is Conveyancing?

Conveyancing is the legal process of buying, selling, or transferring houses and land in England & Wales.  The phrase conveyancing comes from the document that historically was used to make that legal transfer of land – called a conveyance.  This might include:-

• Purchase
• Sale
• Sale & Purchase
• Transfer of equity (transfer of ownership)
• Help to Buy
• Lease extensions
• Deed of Trust

The Conveyancing Process

The stuff that your conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor will deal with for you will include:-

• CONTRACT PACK – issued by the buyer’s solicitor as the first part of the conveyancing process
• SEARCHES – done by the buyer, remember conveyancing is ‘buyer beware’
• MORTGAGE – although as the buyer you will arrange your mortgage, your conveyancing solicitor will provide you with a ‘mortgage report’, and arrange for your lender to release the mortgage money ready for completion
• SURVEY – again, you will contract the services of a surveyor, but you may need your conveyancer to raise pre-contract enquiries on issues that come out of the survey
• PRE-CONTRACT ENQUIRIES – these are formal questions put to the seller in readiness for exchange of contracts
• EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS – when you exchange contracts the buyer and seller are (finally!) legally bound to go through with the transaction
• COMPLETION – completion is the day of your big move

Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme

This is the legal industry pinnacle of the best conveyancing lawyers.  There is a rigorous application process in order for firms to join this quality kite mark, along with thorough annual reviews.  QLAW are Law Society CQS members.  If you want the best conveyancing solicitor, always choose one who is a member of the CQS scheme.

Regulation of Solicitors

By using a property solicitor, you will have the back up of our regulatory framework under the SRA (Solicitors Regulatory Authority), with an industry requirement that we carry professional indemnity insurance.  The SRA (quite rightly) provide a comprehensive regulatory framework in which solicitors are encouraged to provide the very best practice for the public.  Not all conveyancers are regulated in this way.

> SRA | Solicitors Regulation Authority

What if I am unhappy with my Conveyancing Solicitor?

By choosing a conveyancing solicitor, the SRA requires us to have a very clear complaints policy that must be fully adhered to if client’s are unhappy with any aspect of the service that they receive.  Further, if your conveyancing solicitor is unable to resolve any concerns, clients will have access to the Legal Ombudsman.

> Legal Ombudsman

Conveyancing Solicitor near to me?

When you’re deciding on the best conveyancing solicitor for you, you may start by looking for a ‘conveyancing solicitor near me’?  But, ask yourself this, how well equipped are those local conveyancers to deliver you a truly modern and accessible conveyancing service?  It is no use them having their law firm offices near you, if you have to go in and see them, or if they never answer the telephone when you call!  For so much of our online lives, ‘convenience’ is not now always local.

Online Conveyancing Solicitor

As one of the first law firms to have gone paperless in 2008, QLAW has blazed a trail in the use of IT to provide conveyancing clients (and others) with a truly digital experience.  For us, convenience during the conveyancing process comes in all shapes and sizes.  As a solicitors practice providing a truly digital conveyancing process, you see the difference from the moment you obtain an instant online conveyancing quote.  Our online conveyancing fee quote gives you a no obligation instant conveyancing quote.  It tells you everything that should be included in a conveyancing quote.

Conveyancing Solicitor Reviews

It would be easy for us to try to tell you that QLAW are the best conveyancing solicitors, but perhaps what really matter is what our client’s think of us!  So, check out our solicitor reviews on the independent review site TrustPilot.  We hope our 5 star reviews speak volumes!

How much does Conveyancing cost?

Don’t ask yourself how much does conveyancing cost!  Instead, get a conveyancing quote right now.  Our instant no obligation conveyancing quote will include everything including both our solicitor conveyancing fee, and all of your conveyancing disbursements.  Get your conveyancing quote now!

What should a Conveyancing Quote include?

There is so much more to choosing your conveyancer than just seeing who offers cheap conveyancing, not least because not all conveyancing quotes will be on a like for like basis.  So, if you do decide to compare conveyancing quotes, make sure you check them through carefully – some firms will split out bits that are in fact part of the solicitor’s fee which can give an illusion of a cheap conveyancing quote (the headline figure at least).

A conveyancing quote should include (in broad terms):-

• Solicitors conveyancing fee – the fee for their professional services; and separately
• Conveyancing Disbursements

What is included in a Solicitors Conveyancing fee?

So the bit of your conveyancing quote that relates to the solicitors fee is basically the money you pay to them for their professional services (ie NOT items that are paid to third parties which are known as conveyancing disbursements).

We always encourage home movers to compare conveyancing quotes – as some conveyancing firms quote an all in solicitors fee, and other firms split things up making their headline line conveyancing fee look like cheap conveyancing!  So make sure you compare like with like.

The extras that the conveyancing solicitors might split out seems to include things like dealing with:-

• Bank transfers
• Paying your Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
• Mortgage redemption

What are Conveyancing Disbursements?

When you get your conveyancing quote, alongside the solicitor’s fees, you will see a number of payments that will due to third parties.  These should be broadly the same whatever conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor that you choose.  So, the disbursements are paid to third parties in the conveyancing process and might include:-

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (STLD)
• Land Registry fees (HMLR)
• Search fees – local search; water & drainage search; and environmental search

Compare Conveyancing Quotes

When you compare conveyancing quotes, make sure that you compare like for like.  Are there any hidden extras?  Are the conveyancers member of the Law Society CQS kitemark scheme?  What technology do they offer to make your life simple, easy, and keep you up to date 24/7 on what is happening in your conveyance?  And don’t forget to check any solicitor reviews about the firm’s you are looking at (QLAW has a 5-star rating on TrustPilot)!

Conveyancing Solicitor or Conveyancer?

A conveyancing solicitor refers to a lawyer who is qualified as a solicitor and regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA).  A conveyancer is a generic term used to describe someone who deals with property law – often without formal qualifications.

Fixed Fee Conveyancing

99%+ of our conveyancing quotes will be on a fixed fee basis and will set out all of the solicitors fees and disbursements at the outset in your conveyancing quote.  Those fees will be fixed fees come what may.  Don’t guess, get a fixed conveyancing fee quote now!

No sale no Conveyancing fee?

Talk to us if you would like further details on a conveyancing quote with no sale no fee guarantee.

Cheap Conveyancing

Sometimes in life, you get what you pay for!  And, if you want cheap conveyancing, it might be that you will get a cheap service with it.  At QLAW, we think that moving home is a big life event, and so choosing the best conveyancing service is more a question of getting value for money, rather than cheap conveyancing!

Our systems at QLAW use the latest technology giving you 24/7 access to us and your file so you can see online in real time what is happening with your home move.  Digital form filling (so no messing about printing stuff off).  Biometric ID (no coming to our offices with passports).

Remember – the conveyancing disbursements will be the same whatever conveyancer you choose.  So the only difference is the solicitors fee itself.  Our amazing systems give us efficiency gains and savings that we will always look to pass on to you.  Cheap conveyancing or great value for money?  You decide – get an instant conveyancing quote now.

Can I do my own Conveyancing?

If you are a cash buyer (ie you are not taking a mortgage) then technically yes it is possible to do your own conveyancing.  But, with so much at risk, why would anyone want to do that?

If you are taking a mortgage, then your lender will insist that you use an expert property lawyer as one of the jobs that falls to your conveyancer is to ‘certify title’ of the property you are buying for the benefit of that mortgage company.  In a way, they act for you (and briefly) for your lender too.

What is a Lender Panel?

A lender panel is a list of mortgage companies who will (or not) permit conveyancing solicitors to deal with a purchase in which they are the mortgage company.  QLAW is not only a member of the Law Society CQS quality kitemark scheme, registered at the SRA, but we are also member of all major lender panels meaning we can act for you with almost any lender you have chosen.

• QLAW are members of the major lender panels giving access to almost every lender
• SRA registered – Solicitors Regulation Authority
• Legal Ombudsman – we are answerable to the industry regulator which protects you
• Law Society CQS – we hold the industry quality kitemark for conveyancing services

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