The typical move for a homeowner will involve legal costs for both the sale of their old house and the purchase of their new one.\u00a0 And if they use a traditional high street conveyancing solicitor then, on average, they\u2019ll pay almost twice what it would cost them if they went online.<\/p>\n
This surprising figure comes from a survey by online estate agent HouseHop.co.uk.[1] House Hop conducted an undercover survey of 52 randomly chosen high street solicitors and compared their quotes to those from House Hop\u2019s own panel of online solicitors.<\/p>\n
Each solicitor was asked to provide a quote for an identical transaction involving the sale of one property and the purchase of another.\u00a0 The quotes were for average priced houses (since solicitors often base their fees partly on a property\u2019s value).<\/p>\n
The result:\u00a0 the average cost (excluding search costs, which are fixed) of a high street solicitor was \u00a31745 compared to a cost of just \u00a3895 if you go online.\u00a0 That\u2019s a saving of \u00a3850 (48.7%).<\/p>\n
With the number of residential property transactions likely to complete this year being around 900,000[3] that represents a potential overpayment by homeowners of \u00a3765 million.[4]<\/p>\n
So why is going online so much cheaper?\u00a0 Quite simply the internet has thrown open the gates of competition.\u00a0 In the old days there was a virtual \u201chigh street monopoly\u201d.\u00a0 Homeowners were forced to choose from a tiny handful of local firms all of whom charged similar (high) prices.\u00a0 Today conveyancing can be done from anywhere in the country and so competition \u2013 at least in the online sphere \u2013 has forced prices down.<\/p>\n
According to John Tighe, the founder of House Hop and a lawyer himself, \u201cconsumers can now benefit from online access to firms specialising in conveyancing and who have much lower overheads, the benefit of which they pass on to their clients.\u201d\u00a0 This makes them far cheaper than their high street counterparts who may only do a handful of conveyancing transactions and whose costs per lawyer work out far higher.<\/p>\n
This is great news for consumers, but a word of warning:\u00a0 not all firms offering online conveyancing are equal.\u00a0 Some have been described as \u201claw factories\u201d \u2013 essentially no more than legal call centres where underpaid (and sometimes under qualified) staff are simply unable to give the kind of service you would expect because they are too busy.<\/p>\n
Too busy, it turns out, because the firms they work for sucker in large numbers of clients by offering ridiculously cheap headline prices (\u00a399 is not unheard of).\u00a0 Of course, these prices later turn out to be completely bogus.\u00a0 They don\u2019t include any of the many \u201cexpenses\u201d that such firms use to pad out their bills.\u00a0 Nor do they include search costs, registration fees or VAT.<\/p>\n
The result is overworked and unhappy staff and frustrated customers who end up with a final bill that is many hundreds of pounds more than they expected and for a second rate service.<\/p>\n
So is it possible to benefit from the much cheaper online competition without getting caught out by an online \u201claw factory\u201d?\u00a0 The answer, according to John, is to look for an online firm that meets these four criteria:<\/p>\n
Your solicitor should have an established reputation and specialise (or have a department specialising in) conveyancing.<\/p>\n
Never hire a solicitor on a per hour basis.\u00a0 This is how costs skyrocket. And don\u2019t accept a quote that is fixed fee providing that there are no \u201cunforeseen complications\u201d.\u00a0 Such a promise is not worth the paper it\u2019s written on:\u00a0 \u201cfixed fee\u201d should mean exactly that.<\/p>\n
A fixed fee quote is no good unless it includes all<\/span> costs.\u00a0 A favourite trick of dodgy firms (both online and high street) is to give low headline quotes to get your business and then add on lots of expensive hidden extras.\u00a0 Your quote should include all disbursements (expenses) plus VAT.<\/p>\n As many as 1 in 3 property transactions fall through, meaning that one of the biggest unexpected costs when moving is additional legal fees.<\/p>\n To protect yourself against this find a solicitor who will work on a \u201cno completion \u2013 no fee\u201d basis.\u00a0 That way if you can\u2019t complete you will be spared the legal fees (though you will still have to pay any expenses that have already been incurred on your behalf).<\/p>\n All the solicitors on House Hop\u2019s the panel meet the criteria set out above.\u00a0 In addition they\u2019ve all agreed to maintain a high level of customer service, all are members of the Law Society and all are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.\u00a0 They also guarantee that when you get a quote through House Hop it will be cheaper than if you approach the solicitors direct.<\/p>\n As an added reassurance, House Hop make unedited customer feedback on each firm available on their website \u2013 feedback that comes direct from clients and so can\u2019t get filtered by the firms themselves.\u00ad\u00ad<\/p>\n4.\u00a0 Get a \u201cno completion \u2013 no fee\u201d quote<\/h3>\n