Being able to know what to ask a Conveyancing solicitor is very important. There are many questions that people just don’t think about asking until it is too late. Here are some of the questions that you need to know the answers to before you even pick up the phone!
What to ask a conveyancing solicitor
1) How long have they been in business?
Being in business for a long time does not necessarily make them the best choice, but it does give you an idea of what experience they can bring to your conveyancing process. The more experienced a solicitor, the better. This is especially true when it comes to conveyancing because this area has a very steep learning curve and only works by having many years of experience.
2) Are they fully qualified?
Being a solicitor is not an easy task. You need to have gone through years of training and cramming the mind full of knowledge before you are qualified to do the job. With many people going away from Law degrees, it has made it harder for conveyancing solicitors as they need to be very experienced and able to think of what they can do in very difficult situations. Many conveyancing solicitors state that it takes 10 years for a solicitor to become fully experienced and proficient at all of the tasks involved with conveyancing.
3) What services do they offer?
It’s important to understand what service you want from your Conveyancer. A lot of people who are looking to buy or sell a property are not aware that the services you receive may vary vastly. Some solicitors deal with large companies, others do not even ask for money up front if they feel it isn’t necessary.
4)What are their charges?
This is an obvious question but it needs to be asked. You need to know what you are being charged for, and whether or not the rates are fixed or not. If they are fixed then that’s good but you need to make sure that all of the services required by the job will fall under this charge.
5) How will I be charged?
This is one of the main questions that most people do not consider asking. This is usually because most people just pay the conveyancing solicitor at the end of the job, and therefore it does not matter how they charge you. However with charges that can spiral into thousands of pounds, you might want to know exactly what will be charged and when. Will they bill you for each instruction? Or a monthly fee ? What will work out the best for you?
6)How much time do they spend on each transaction?
Conveyancing fees can spiral quickly, so how much work your solicitor does on your transaction is extremely important. You don’t want somebody who spends a few hours working on your complex transfer of equity only for them to bill you accordingly. Ask them exactly how long tasks will take them before committing yourself to one conveyancer over another.
7)How many property transactions have they completed?
As mentioned previously, experience is extremely important in conveyancing and the more properties a solicitor has helped with, the better. They will know all of the pitfalls of property conveyancing and how to avoid them. This takes time to learn and has never been more important.
8)How quickly can they do things?
Another very important question to ask your solicitor is how quickly they could move if necessary. Not many people think about this, but in some cases, it might be needed, and the longer a job takes the more money it costs. You don’t want to find that your solicitor is not as efficient as you need. There are now many online conveyancing companies such as My Conveyancing Specialist who can offer instant conveyancing quotes online which can save you both time and money.
9)How will they keep me informed?
This may seem like a strange question to ask, but if you think about it, most solicitors do not actually give the client any information. They expect the client to contact them – which means that the solicitor does not have to bother at all. Most people just call their solicitor when they have no idea what is going on and are in need of help. It then takes longer for that person to find out what is going on because they are trying to get more information from him or her. However, it’s important for your conveyancing solicitor to be proactive and provide you with information so that you can make decisions about your property transaction instead of being completely left in the dark.
However, you decide to choose your conveyancer make sure the quote they provide includes all costs and fees and get it in writing, to ensure your property purchase goes through as planned.
