How to choose the right conveyancing firm
If you’re selling your property, you’ll be investing a lot of time and effort to ensure the house is in fantastic shape, before contacting an estate agent to market the property so that the viewings and offers can hopefully start pouring in. If you’re buying a property, the time and effort will be invested in drawing up shortlists and contacting estate agents to view the properties, before finally having an offer accepted on your dream home.
In both scenarios the time will come to move the sale or purchase forward with the help of a reliable conveyancer, but how do you choose the right conveyancer to help you proceed through the move?
There are many things you’ll want to look for when choosing a conveyancing firm. You’ll want to build a positive rapport with them, trust that they will provide you with an excellent service, listen to any of your concerns and act upon them accordingly, communicate with you effectively throughout the entire process and meet your timelines, to name a few. But, is it possible to find all these attributes and if so, how do you go about finding them?
If you follow these top tips that we’ve put together, you’ll find yourself in the best position possible to find the right conveyancer that can help your house sale or purchase transaction move forward as smooth and hassle-free as possible:
Search local and national conveyancing firms
Most property conveyancing transactions are now easily dealt with by post, e-mail, phone call and even Skype for the most technologically-minded firms! Extended opening hours can also help if you have a job that doesn’t correlate well with the standard 9-5, so if speedy and flexible communication is important to you, these are the type of things you can look for during your search. The initial contact you receive, and the time it takes for them to create a costing for you may provide an insight into the quality of service you can expect and the speed in which they are able to deliver.
Make sure you do your research
The internet has made researching companies much easier, and there is no need to just rely on word-of-mouth anymore - although this can still prove valuable if someone you trust has experience of working with a specific conveyancer. Independent review sites will highlight whether a firm has a good market reputation or one to be avoided. You can also ask them directly about the number of conveyancing transactions they have handled over the past 12 months as this can give you an idea about their expertise in the field.
Get a full fee breakdown
You should make sure your quote outlines all items that will be included in the conveyancing fee. Be sure that there are no hidden extras and that the quote you see is the exact total that you will pay. This is known as a fixed fee, but some conveyancers add hidden fees on top of your initial quote, meaning you can end up with a surprisingly large bill to pay upon completion if you weren’t aware.
Another thing to note is referral fees. Estate agents will often pass these on to the client, and they can sound very appealing, but it’s more important to consider the completion rate of the conveyancer. You probably want to ensure you reach completion successfully and as quickly as possible, so taking a strong completion rate into consideration increases the chances of this being achieved.
Look for proactive conveyancers
Solicitors often fall short when it comes to speedy communication, usually citing a busy workload. Choosing a conveyancing firm who can speak to everyone in the chain at the earliest possibility with regular updates will help make sure the process isn’t slowed down. You also want to make sure you choose a conveyancer who has the capacity to chase paperwork and allocate dedicated staff to each transaction. This will mean identifying a firm with enough experienced staff to deliver a quality service to every client, while maintaining consistency and transparency throughout. A solicitor who is proactive and willing to push the sale or purchase through as soon as possible with creative thinking and pragmatism will be worth their weight in gold.
Here at CPS Homes estate agents, we’re experts when it comes to buying or selling property. If you’re looking to put your home on the market or need help finding your dream home in Cardiff, then contact us today by calling 02920 454555, e-mailing enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk or by popping into one of our three Cardiff branches in Roath, Cathays and Cardiff Bay.
