Thread: Anyone Used On-Line Conveyancy when Buying/Selling Property

Sold our house last night - yeah, so now need to instruct solicitor etc. My gob was well & truly smacked when we got a quote for a local firm of approx £1750

Looked on line and there's a couple of company's that caught my eye - they turned out to be nearly £1,000 cheaper but undertandably I'd love to know if anyone has good or bad experiences.

Is it perhaps better to have an office to 'pop' into especially when having to sign legal docs etc rather than having to rely on downloading & post?

Many thanks

I've never had experience (I work in the financial services) of using online conveyancing, do you know of anyone who has recently sold their property & find out how much they paid. Otherwise I'd get quotes from other local firms. My thoughts with online (& I could be wrong)is that it's just a big office with people all processing & not one individual taking ownership of your sale/purchase. Or you could ask the estate agents who people in your area ususally use for conveyancing, & what there experience is with them.

Thanks HH - I went with the same solicitor my daughter used reasonably recently and she didn't pay nearly as much. I can't see why the prices would differ from smaller to larger properties - they're not doing any more work with a 2 bed than with a 5 bed! Obviously I know the darned stamp duty differs but the quote itemised this, and some disbursements as extras.

The on-line company I have a quote from appear to allocate a specific 'case worker' to each client, but then again, until you sign up (or get feedback) you just don't know whether you're going to have to chase your tail? .The £1k saving makes me want to try them but I'd obviously kick myself if it all went pear shaped.

Such a difficult decision, now the online company assigns a specific case worker it does seem appealing.

We are just going through buying a house.

Solictor fees are £600 but by the time you add on Stamp duty,searches,land registry and other reports we are paying £2500.

We did look at online but when we added everything up it was only a £200 cheaper.

Have you looked at no sale/no fee.When we were buying another house the estate agent had a no sale/no fee solictor we were going to use.You pay an admin fee up front of £60 but if the sale falls through you don't pay anymore.

Originally Posted by Minimunchkins

Sold our house last night - yeah, so now need to instruct solicitor etc. My gob was well & truly smacked when we got a quote for a local firm of approx £1750

Looked on line and there's a couple of company's that caught my eye - they turned out to be nearly £1,000 cheaper but undertandably I'd love to know if anyone has good or bad experiences.

Is it perhaps better to have an office to 'pop' into especially when having to sign legal docs etc rather than having to rely on downloading & post?

Many thanks

£1750 sounds about right for selling a house.

EDIT: You don't pay stamp duty when selling a house so £1750 does seem high.

Thanks both. The £1750 would cover fees & disbursements for the sale & purchase - Stamp duty would be on top. We've had a few more local firms quoting around the £1300 - £1600 mark.

The on line companies are coming up cheaper but another tick in their favour is that it's 'no sale no fee'. This sounds good in case the chain breaks - our buyers are chain free but the 3 we've viewed this evening all have somewhere to find.

when we where buying our house over 3 years ago we went with a company bank recommended- Halifax. i have never seen the solicitor and could track my case on line and got papers in the post with crosses where to sign i thought the solicitors fee depends on the value of the house? might be wrong, we only ever brought one house