Buying a home is the most important investment many of us will ever make. It is one of the most stressful too. The conveyancer you choose to work with can have a big impact on this.
The SRA report the most common complaints made of some solicitors relate to delays, costs and communication.
Delay
We all wish buying a house could be as simple as placing an Amazon order. Choose what you want, click a button, the keys delivered a couple of days later. Unfortunately they don’t make return labels big enough for when what you get looks different to what you expected. This means you need a solicitor to handle the complex legal process.
The standard time to trasnfer a house is approximately 8 to 12 weeks from the offer being made to unlocking the front door. This varies depending on factors such as the chain, the type of property, lenders etc.
Having the paperwork in order from the start can go a long way to avoiding delays.
Most properties in England are registered at HM Land Registry which makes it easy to obtain legal details. There are some which have been in the same ownership for many years where this information is still stored on parchment. Locating deeds can be an issue, especially where the seller may be a personal representative with limited knowledge of a property. Making sure a property is registered before it is placed on the market can minimise these risks.
Leasehold properties always need more information, eg. service charges, ground rent, insurance, building safety certificates etc.. Landlords or managing agents should always be contacted as early as possible to provide this information and reduce delays.
Substandard legal work, often several owners back can also cause issues if things were overlooked or missed previously which now need to be rectified.
Costs
A big complaint clients have relates to solicitors’ costs. They expect to pay a certain fee and then get slapped with a much bigger bill without warning. Since 2018 solicitors should always display prices and information for residential conveyancing clearly and transparently. Small print often remains an issue for the sector.
Here at James Legal we are committed to providing complete transparency in relation to our charges. Our fees are on our website and your conveyancer will provide a breakdown of costs at the start and update you if anything changes as a matter progresses.
Communication
Buying a house is such a big step, it’s important you have the right expert guiding you.
At James Legal you will know the name of your case handler and their team and have direct contact with phone, mobile numbers and email addresses so you can always contact them easily.
We want to keep you as fully informed as possible as a happy client makes for happy work all round.
Why use James Legal
We know conveyancing can be overwhelming and stressful. We know it doesn’t always have to be like that. Using a friendly, understanding and contactable professional to walk you through the process is key.
At James Legal we take a fresh approach. Our experienced team will deal with your transaction with transparency, pragmatism, efficiency and kindness and help avoid issues
