You don’t have to use the Conveyancing Solicitor your estate agent recommends. However, certain “corporate” estate agents can make you feel like there is no other option. Moving house can take up a huge amount of your time and be highly stressful. A good relationship between your estate agent and your Conveyancing Solicitor can remove much of this stress. Using the Solicitor that a corporate estate agent is pressuring you to use can be costly.
Unfortunately, this is something that we have seen happen many times. People buying a house through one of the corporate estate agents, are often highly discouraged from using anyone that isn’t the Property Solicitor that comes “highly recommended” from the corporate agent – and corporate estate agents staff are often on commission to make sure they make the “right” recommendation-which will never be to a local solicitor but instead to a conveyancing factory/call-centre. You should also be aware that some estate agents are also paid for the referrals that they make by the solicitor. Your estate agent should always inform you if they stand to receive a referral fee if you use the Property Solicitors that they recommend. The problem that arises sometimes is that the fee they stand to receive means they no longer have your best interests at heart, and are more concerned for getting paid for the referral.
However, there are genuine arrangements out there. These are usually between independent estate agents that have close relationships with established, trusted local Law Firms. These relationships will usually have lasted for a number of years. There will probably be an efficient and effective relationship between such local property lawyers and estate agents – resulting in a high level of service for you through the entire process.
Some useful tips:
- Don’t rush or be pressured into any decisions regarding which lawyers you use
- Conduct your own research into which Estate agent and Conveyancing Solicitor to use, including looking online and getting recommendations from people you know
- When you choose a Conveyancing Solicitor, inform the Estate agent of your choice.
- Expect a personal, friendly and efficient service
We are proud to have strong relationships with a number of local estate agents, who use us because of our high level of client service. So for conveyancing legal advice you can trust, call our Andover Solicitors today on 01264 364433 for a free quote or e-mail them at andover@bishopslaw.com.