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Conveyancing Solicitors - Quality Does Matter

By Tim Bishop

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Published: 29Apr2010
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Many buyers do not acknowledge the importance of having a competent and professional solicitor when dealing with conveyancing. This is especially the case in residential transactions.

A solicitor's role in residential conveyancing is first and foremost to ensure that it runs smoothly and efficiently. In a commercial conveyance (and some more complex residential conveyances) a solicitor's role becomes more varied and they have the responsibility of drafting tailor made contracts, identifying potential problems with a transaction and highlighting factors that may effect the value of the purchase.

It is importance to find conveyancing solicitors suited to the type of purchase that you are making. It is also advisable to do this research and make a preliminary decision before your offer on a property has been accepted. Once an offer has been accepted there can be pressures to complete quickly from the seller and pressures to agree a mortgage with your lender. Therefore, the least thing you want to be worrying about is finding a good solicitor.

How high-quality conveyancing solicitors can benefit you:

An efficient solicitor should work to the following schedule:

1. He/she drafts a contract of sale and completes all the necessary local searches. They should also anticipate any relevant additional searches, which may be relevant to the individual property.

2. Once in receipt of the seller's questionnaire and fixtures and fittings form, he/she should raise any appropriate enquiries in relation to your personal requirements.

3. Any potential problems raised by the local search results should be reported back to you, the client.

4. The draft contract will be sent to the seller's solicitor via DX (document exchange). If this is approved then it will be checked by you and signed.

5. If everything is in order then the solicitor will request the deposit money from you and authorisation from your lender that you have access to the appropriate funds.

6. If every query has been satisfied, there is no reason why an exchange and completion cannot take place concurrently.

7. Lastly, if there are any outstanding issues the solicitor should be able to draft watertight conditions precedent into the contract for sale.

A good solicitor should always report back to their client keeping them informed of their progress. Many firms now have an on-line tracking system where you are able to visualise the progress of your conveyance. In using a competent solicitor a straightforward residential conveyance should only take weeks.

How a bad solicitor can affect your conveyancing:

A poor solicitor will follow the above schedule, but may work in a much less efficient way, which will severely delay the timescale of your conveyance:

1. He/she will wait for the local searches before preparing the draft contract, they will also file away the title deeds received from the sellers solicitor.

2. Once they receive the generic local searches they may raise a few more alternative searches for clarity. This is done subsequently, rather than anticipating the type of searches needed in relation to location/type of the property and obtaining these at the same time.

3. Upon receipt of the seller's replies and the results of the further searches he/she will then produce a draft contract and send this off to the seller's solicitor for approval using the postal service rather than DX.

4. When the contract is returned he will post it to you for checking and signing. You will then sign this and return with the deposit monies.

5. He/she will then contact the lender for approval of the mortgage; this can take up to 4 weeks to come through.

6. Eventually you are ready to exchange and hopefully complete without any further delays.

Working in such a traditional and slow manner, the above solicitor could slow your conveyancing process from weeks to months. In delaying the purchase you also run the risk that the seller becomes impatient, looses confidence in your intentions and thus pulls out prior to exchange.

This highlights the importance of prior preparation and research in choosing conveyancing solicitors. Always try to match a firm to your individual needs, a good place to start is their website and contacting their conveyancing team directly.

Bonallack & Bishop are specialist conveyancing solicitors with particular experience of enfranchisement work. Tim Bishop is senior partner at the firm, responsible for all major strategic decisions. He has grown the firm by 1000% in 12 years and has firm plans for continued expansion.

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