The process of buying a home is often filled with a rollercoaster of emotions, and just when buyers are about to reach a final decision, the journey stretches on due to an onslaught of delays you’d expect with conveyancing.
Even the most experienced homebuyers can’t avoid the drudgery of conveyancing, especially since it’s one of the most important steps in buying and selling real estate. It’s an arduous process that can take months to complete since it involves transferring the property title from the owner to the buyer.
Conveyancing is Complicated, but Not with the Right Professional Solicitor
A conveyancing solicitor can take away the hassle of the situation by guiding you through all the legal arrangements to ensure a smooth-sailing transfer of the property’s title. While that is their primary responsibility, they can also help homebuyers draw up contracts, provide legal advice, find the best mortgage offer, and other factors to consider when surveying the property for any faults.
Seeing how a conveyancing solicitor plays a pivotal role in the home buying process, working with the right one that suits your needs is critical. An incompetent solicitor can compromise your deal for good, losing time, money, and even put you on the wrong side of the law in the worst-case scenario.
With that in mind, the list below explores some of the tell-tale signs that indicate you need to get rid of your bad solicitor and find an expert that will handle your conveyancing with better care.
Definite Signs of an Incompetent Conveyancing Solicitor
Sign #1: Lack of Communication
As mentioned above, conveyancing can be a convoluted process for first-time and veteran buyers alike. There’s plenty of important documents, legal arrangements, home inspections, and other factors to consider, so the key to achieving a successful transfer of ownership is to have a clear communication line with your solicitor.
The best solicitors should guide you through every step of the way, which means they need to answer all your questions and keep you in the loop with everything. If you find your solicitor hard to reach - whether they’re unresponsive, provide vague replies, or always make excuses for their absence, it’s a hard sign that says you need to hire a better conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible!
Sign #2: Unclear Billing
Beyond having a clear mutual understanding with your conveyancing solicitor, you also need to stay on top of the legal expenses you need to pay for their services. It’s true that hiring a solicitor doesn’t come cheap, but the right one should help you understand the value of your investment and ensure you see where every penny goes.
After all, you wouldn’t want to drain your funds long before you move into your new home. With that in mind, comparing quotes with different solicitors should give you a ballpark figure of the price of their service in the industry.
When you notice overbilling charges and find hidden expenses, surcharges, and vague reasoning behind the hefty costs, then it’s an expensive red flag you can’t afford to ignore. Doing your research on your solicitor’s fee structure should clue you in on what contributes to their overall rate, seeing as some conveyancers also charge a percentage of the property value while others don’t.
Be sure the conveyancing solicitor can clearly define every legal expense you need to pay and avoid unethical solicitors who drive up the price for simple duties like copying, postage, e-mailing, and more.
Sign #3: Unethical Behavior
Speaking of supercharging simple tasks, other unethical behaviors you need to spot include their timeliness. If a solicitor is always missing or showing up late to important meetings, then it’s time to let them go immediately.
A solicitor is responsible for ensuring the legality of the home buying transaction, so any illegal actions will only drag your name and get you into trouble. Another behavior that you shouldn’t settle with is their incompetence with filing paperwork, such as when documents are carelessly filed with incorrect information.
Sign #4: Lack of Compassion to Your Needs
A conveyancing solicitor without empathy for your needs will make the process feel harder and complicated. A lack of compassion often leads to failing to maintain good communication, which means you have higher chances of dealing with complications along the way without having a reliable expert to pull you through it.
The Bottom Line: The Role of Conveyancing Solicitors in the Home Buying Process and the Importance of Working with the Right Professional
There is a mountain of paperwork to go through before you can legally settle down in your dream home and as UK law states, it’s a necessary stage that seals the deal to your forever living space. Seeing how the conveyancing process can be a complex journey, hiring the right solicitor to guide you through is critical since their expertise can simplify the process in more ways than one.
Keep in mind that you have every right to file a complaint, so long as you have reasons that prove the solicitor’s incompetence in their job. Fortunately, you can request to swap your solicitor anytime, though it often means more delays since they will have to handle your case from scratch.
Why Choose Us for the Best Value for Conveyancing?
If you’re looking for something that can help take the guesswork out of the home buying process, our expert team of SRA regulated and licensed conveyance solicitors in Birmingham, UK, can simplify the experience for you. Get in touch with us at 0330 043 1202 to get instant conveyancing quotes.
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