How To Identify Good Conveyancing Firms And Property Lawyers
It is easy to identify and recommend the top conveyancing firms. Many estate agents and mortgage brokers choose not to promote a property lawyer for fear of being blamed if the property lawyer provides an inferior service. It takes little time however, for them to distinguish the excellent from the mediocre providers and establish a relationship with the best and so if your estate agent is not willing to recommend a firm perhaps you should check with another agent.
Now when you are looking to find a good conveyancing firm turn to your estate agent as they are industry experts on good and bad conveyancing firms and practices. Estate agents would have dealt with dozens of conveyancers and know the good ones from the bad. Hence it is important to hear their recommendation a good property lawyers. They should be able to use their industry knowledge and experience to benefit their clients and prevent the vulnerable client from choosing an unsuitable or unqualified property lawyer.
Clients want a property lawyer who is experienced and communicates with them in a proactive and timely manner. Our research clearly shows that clients would be willing to pay several hundred pounds more for a speedy, efficient transaction by an experienced property lawyer. The disappointment of poor communication, painfully slow transactions and negligent conveyancing is something clients are unable to anticipate. As a result, they often choose a conveyancing firm on price, without being aware of what they should be looking for. What they really want is a property lawyer who will deal with their transaction in a timely manner, explain issues in plain English and give them the attention they need to become comfortable with the process.
Below are some useful questions to ask when identifying a good quality law firm for your conveyancing case:
1. How large is your firm?
Larger firms will process cases faster. A small firm is likely to have higher overheads per conveyancing case thus more costly but at the same time be less able to manage employee absences and holidays, which could cause delays to your conveyancing transaction.
2. What estate agents or mortgage brokers do you work with?
Conveyancing firms that work with a variety of national, regional and local estate agent and mortgage brokers will be able to work better with you as they are likely to have service level agreements and be better trained. Conveyancing firms that work with only a few local estate agents or mortgage brokers are likely to be worse at handling your case and you would experience low quality and speed if the property lawyer working on your case takes leave or is absent. Larger firms will generally have the resources to manage this.
3. Does the property lawyer specialise in residential conveyancing only?
A property lawyer who deals only with residential conveyancing will be office based and contactable at all times. A property lawyer who covers different areas of law such as family law and immigration may have to visit court regularly, which may compromise the standard of service they provide to you.
4. Do you have an online case tracker with real-time update facility and SMS updates?
This enables you to stay up to date with what is happening on a case at a time that is convenient to you. There are two types of Case Management System: a less advanced system which is updated manually by the property lawyer and a more advanced system which is updated in real-time as soon as the property lawyer does any work on a case. The former is less expensive and most commonly used by small high street conveyancing firms, and is likely to be out of date and of no value to you because the property lawyer may not gets around to updating it for a couple of days. Only larger specialist conveyancing firms are able to make the heavy investment into the more expensive system which can give you real-time updates. ELC Solicitors for example, invested in close to 1 million in developing a state of the art case management system that will provide referrers with all the information and support they will need to expedite your conveyancing transaction.
Now when you are looking to find a good conveyancing firm turn to your estate agent as they are industry experts on good and bad conveyancing firms and practices. Estate agents would have dealt with dozens of conveyancers and know the good ones from the bad. Hence it is important to hear their recommendation a good property lawyers. They should be able to use their industry knowledge and experience to benefit their clients and prevent the vulnerable client from choosing an unsuitable or unqualified property lawyer.
Clients want a property lawyer who is experienced and communicates with them in a proactive and timely manner. Our research clearly shows that clients would be willing to pay several hundred pounds more for a speedy, efficient transaction by an experienced property lawyer. The disappointment of poor communication, painfully slow transactions and negligent conveyancing is something clients are unable to anticipate. As a result, they often choose a conveyancing firm on price, without being aware of what they should be looking for. What they really want is a property lawyer who will deal with their transaction in a timely manner, explain issues in plain English and give them the attention they need to become comfortable with the process.
Below are some useful questions to ask when identifying a good quality law firm for your conveyancing case:
1. How large is your firm?
Larger firms will process cases faster. A small firm is likely to have higher overheads per conveyancing case thus more costly but at the same time be less able to manage employee absences and holidays, which could cause delays to your conveyancing transaction.
2. What estate agents or mortgage brokers do you work with?
Conveyancing firms that work with a variety of national, regional and local estate agent and mortgage brokers will be able to work better with you as they are likely to have service level agreements and be better trained. Conveyancing firms that work with only a few local estate agents or mortgage brokers are likely to be worse at handling your case and you would experience low quality and speed if the property lawyer working on your case takes leave or is absent. Larger firms will generally have the resources to manage this.
3. Does the property lawyer specialise in residential conveyancing only?
A property lawyer who deals only with residential conveyancing will be office based and contactable at all times. A property lawyer who covers different areas of law such as family law and immigration may have to visit court regularly, which may compromise the standard of service they provide to you.
4. Do you have an online case tracker with real-time update facility and SMS updates?
This enables you to stay up to date with what is happening on a case at a time that is convenient to you. There are two types of Case Management System: a less advanced system which is updated manually by the property lawyer and a more advanced system which is updated in real-time as soon as the property lawyer does any work on a case. The former is less expensive and most commonly used by small high street conveyancing firms, and is likely to be out of date and of no value to you because the property lawyer may not gets around to updating it for a couple of days. Only larger specialist conveyancing firms are able to make the heavy investment into the more expensive system which can give you real-time updates. ELC Solicitors for example, invested in close to 1 million in developing a state of the art case management system that will provide referrers with all the information and support they will need to expedite your conveyancing transaction.
