‘Do you know a good solicitor?’ - Yes we know a few!

It’s always been similar with Solicitors. Either clients follow their parents and stay with their family choice, or essentially they’ll just go with anyone who is recommended to them by a professional at the point their search starts getting serious (or they are making an offer).

This all sounds good in practice. If you got on well with the agent, their solicitor is bound to be good, right? Unfortunately in many cases the answer to that question is no.

Should I follow a solicitor referral?

Solicitors regularly offer their services as referral partners of estate agents and some of the commissions they offer are eye watering - this offsets in some eyes the fact that the service they offer is horrendous. I regret to say that some of the larger, corporate estate agencies prefer to have a nice big commission on their bottom line over ensuring the solicitor they have shacked up with provides a decent level of service to their client. Ironically because of these large commissions, the solicitor fees you pay are inflated. That’s right, sometimes you can pay almost double what you would normally for the privilege of using the agents choice, earning them a small fortune in the meantime.

My simple rules of thumb in this regard are: Is my named solicitor an individual or a team?

If it’s a team, turn around, run away and don’t ever look back. You need someone accountable for the file to ensure you don't end up being passed from pillar to post when your moving date approaches. Secondly, have I got the ability to go in and see them easily if there are complex elements that need to be talked through? If it’s a large corporate conveyancing factory with twenty teams in Cardiff, how important are you going to be to them, really? The answer is you are not and you will not get the opportunity to have your mind put at rest in a meeting with them to discuss the key aspects of the property.

There are some brilliant local solicitors (and as with everything else, some not so good). I would contact three for quotes and you’ll get a feel pretty quickly in how efficient and friendly they are from that first enquiry. The cheapest isn’t necessarily going to be the best but if there’s not much in it and your gut feel is that one seems right for you - go for it. They say house buying is one of the most stressful things you can do in life. Believe me, a good selection when choosing a solicitor can make it so much easier.

My policy when I formed Houseclub...

My policy when I formed Houseclub was that I would only ever recommend firms I would use myself - that still applies and the firms we suggest to clients often get the same great feedback as we do. We have regularly declined heavy commissions from large 'factories' on the basis we need to know our clients are getting a great level of service as we are now. We will never compromise that.

So remember, get three quotes, stay local, no ’teams’, and base your decision not only on cost but on your feeling when you make your enquiry. All of the above will make your property journey a whole lot easier.