JB
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Self conveyancingNot considering moving but arising from a discussion elsewhere ...
How practical is it to do the conveyancing for a property purchase yourself?
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Treacodactyl
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I think it'll depend greatly on the sale. Some, I gather, can be straight forward but the ones I've been involved with haven't. Things like unregistered land and old grazing rights on the plot from many years ago etc.
I think it is important to understand the process as I've spotted mistakes by the solicitors I've used so I would recommend people take an active interest in the process and check things.
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Hairyloon
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I believe it is not difficult, but you do need to be very thorough as it is easy to miss, or forget something.
And it is a big risk if you get it wrong.
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JohnB
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I'm waiting to hear if my offer on a place has been accepted. When the current owner bought it 8 years ago, no one noticed that there was an acre of unregistered land in the middle of the site! It was spotted by the estate agent who is currently trying to sell it. The seller is registering it now, and has to decide between selling it to me, who is concerned that it's sorted, and another bidder who claims they aren't bothered by it (but I bet his conveyancer will be!).
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gil
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After I bought my first house in England [bog standard job], I reckoned it would be easy to do it myself the next time.
But then I moved to Scotland, which is different legally, and bought somewhere in the country, which was full of difficult issues, and I was glad I had a solicitor.
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Helen_A
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My parents have always done their own. We thought we were being 'sensible' not DIYing, but having had things that I could have gone and done in an afternoon or a few take weeks in the hands of conveyancers (or the buyers/sellers conveyancers and then more time getting between solicitors, to the point where our solicitor sent someone to sit in the records office for the afternoon and didn't charge us!) I'm likely to think again if/when there is a next time...
But not if we end up in scotland or another country...
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JB
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Is buying property in Scotland inherently more complex?
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Mary-Jane
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Engage the services of a reputable solicitor, or a firm who has licensed conveyancers. Conveyancing can be a minefield (searches, unregistered land, covenants, rights of way etc). I would never, ever consider carrying out a conveyance myself.
Dr. Rob (a highly experienced property lawyer of over 30 years) will tell you exactly the same.
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Blue Peter
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| Mary-Jane wrote: | Engage the services of a reputable solicitor, or a firm who has licensed conveyancers. Conveyancing can be a minefield (searches, unregistered land, covenants, rights of way etc). I would never, ever consider carrying out a conveyance myself.
Dr. Rob (a highly experienced property lawyer of over 30 years) will tell you exactly the same. |
Surely a bog standard house on a bog standard estate does not present many problems?
And, if you are getting a mortgage, don't the mortgage company employ their own solicitors to do the same job?
And, finally isn't most bog standard conveyancing done by legal assistants rather than high-powered solicitors?
Peter.
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wipka84
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In theory you could do it yourself, but the risk of the cost of buggering it up i think far outweigh the meagre cost of employing a solicitor in comparison to how much you're paying for your house.
Estates can have problems and employing a local solicitor who has had experience in that location can usually save toing and throwing, having dealt with the same problem a load of times, already have the solution.
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bagpuss
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| Blue Peter wrote: |
And, if you are getting a mortgage, don't the mortgage company employ their own solicitors to do the same job?
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I would be surprised if the mortgage company gets the land registry details and searches done and stuff surely it would cost them too much money
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Blue Peter
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| bagpuss wrote: | | Blue Peter wrote: |
And, if you are getting a mortgage, don't the mortgage company employ their own solicitors to do the same job?
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I would be surprised if the mortgage company gets the land registry details and searches done and stuff surely it would cost them too much money |
I think you'll find that you pay for this service,
Peter.
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bagpuss
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| Blue Peter wrote: | | bagpuss wrote: | | Blue Peter wrote: |
And, if you are getting a mortgage, don't the mortgage company employ their own solicitors to do the same job?
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I would be surprised if the mortgage company gets the land registry details and searches done and stuff surely it would cost them too much money |
I think you'll find that you pay for this service,
Peter. |
I pay the solicitor for that service. I will be surprised if the money I pay the mortgage company is used for that, what would the point in them being done and paid for twice.
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Treacodactyl
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No matter what route you go you'll be paying for the deeds and search, if you ask for one done. If you pay a solicitor you're paying them to request the documents and, sometimes, interpret them.
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Mary-Jane
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| Blue Peter wrote: | | Surely a bog standard house on a bog standard estate does not present many problems? |
Generally no. But remember that if something does go wrong, the self-conveyancer will not have any insurance policy to fall back on.
| Blue Peter wrote: | | And, finally isn't most bog standard conveyancing done by legal assistants rather than high-powered solicitors? |
I'm not entirely sure what a 'high powered solicitor' is. You will find that most of the bog standard background work is done by legal assisants, trainee solicitors and sometimes the secretaries for the simple reason that it would not make good economic sense to have partners tied up in the mundane work as their hourly charges are much higher. This is reflected in the bill which should detail the charges and whom, within the firm, they are attributable to.
Nevertheless, all 'bog standard' work still has to be supervised by the licensed conveyancers and/or the supervising partners.
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gil
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| JB wrote: | | Is buying property in Scotland inherently more complex? |
Not necessarily, but a different legal process / system from England.
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JB
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| gil wrote: | | JB wrote: | | Is buying property in Scotland inherently more complex? |
Not necessarily, but a different legal process / system from England. |
So it should be just as possible to do your own conveyancing in Scotland?
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gil
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| JB wrote: | | So it should be just as possible to do your own conveyancing in Scotland? |
Technically, but in Scotland the contract becomes legally binding at exchange stage, rather than completion, and there can be a lot of issues to sort out in between the two, with legal liability if either party gets it wrong or walks away from the contract. In England, legal liability to complete the contract only kicks in on completion, when you have dealt with all outstanding problem areas.
So I'd be more wary of DIY conveyancing in Scotland.
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Dr Rob
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| gil wrote: | | JB wrote: | | So it should be just as possible to do your own conveyancing in Scotland? |
Technically, but in Scotland the contract becomes legally binding at exchange stage, rather than completion, and there can be a lot of issues to sort out in between the two, with legal liability if either party gets it wrong or walks away from the contract. In England, legal liability to complete the contract only kicks in on completion, when you have dealt with all outstanding problem areas.
So I'd be more wary of DIY conveyancing in Scotland. |
Completely wrong, I'm afraid, Gil. In England & Wales the transaction becomes binding on exchange with the drafting of the transfer and final searches etc taking place before completion about 2 weeks later. Scotland has an earlier stage which kicks in when the offer is accepted after which (I believe) the seller is unable to offer the property to anyone else thus stopping gazumping.
Yes, of course it's possible to do it yourself but only, I suggest, when you're engaged in selling registered property (when the buyer's solicitor will - out of exasperation - tell you how to do it) and there's no mortgage involved. If you're selling and buying and taking out a new mortgage you're asking for trouble doing it yourself, especially if there's a chain. And anyway, what's the point? The bank or building society will appoint its own solicitor and if you have a solicitor that's who will be appointed. As M-J says, if your solicitor cocks it up, you'll have recourse to the insurance every solicitor has to take out.
Also, solicitors' fees for conveyancing have hardly increased in the last 10 years and are about 25% of estate agents' fees.
Lastly, the standard book on conveyancing and land law is Emmet on Title,
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Dr Rob
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....which is 3 thick volumes totalling about 1,500 pages.
I appreciate that this will seem like special pleading but I have, on occasions, acted on the other side of a conveyancing transaction with someone 'doing it themselves' and have always, in effect, had to spend additional, unpaid, time guiding them through the process. They're always grateful, I will say that, however.
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gil
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Whoops ! 
Big thanks to Dr Rob for the correct explanation - my exploration of English conveyancing law was a long time ago now.
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Mary-Jane
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| Dr Rob wrote: | | They're always grateful, I will say that, however. |
That's not what you told me... 
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Dr Rob
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I'll tell you anything
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JB
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| Dr Rob wrote: | | I appreciate that this will seem like special pleading but I have, on occasions, acted on the other side of a conveyancing transaction with someone 'doing it themselves' and have always, in effect, had to spend additional, unpaid, time guiding them through the process. They're always grateful, I will say that, however. |
My experience may not be typical but from my extensive experience (ie twice) everytime I have used a solicitor to handle a property purchase they have made a fist of it and nearly destroyed the whole process.
The first time the solicitor forgot to tell anyone he was going to be on holiday when contracts were going to be exchanged, the second time my solicitor forgot that she was meant to pay stamp duty on the property (quite happily took the money from us for it though). In that first case it was, in retrospect, cost effective for me to use a solicitor as they sent no bill in the end but the solicitors partners instead paid me (probably not worth it for the stress though). In the second case the first I knew of it was some weeks after I had paid my solicitor and suddenly found some government department threatening me with legal action and demanding immediate payment of a five figure bill.
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Dr Rob
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If solicitors make a mess of it after 6 years' training (and they do - the Solicitors' Regulation Authority have more claims arising out of conveyancing than for anything else), why does everybody think its a simple process which they can do themselves?
Believe me, conveyancing can be an absolute nightmare and I hope that I shall never have to do another one.
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Behemoth
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Only time I've done the deed I used a licensed conveyencor (i think that's the term) rather than a solicitor. He was very efficient, thorough and shouted at banks etc as necesary.
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