When purchasing a property there is a lot of legal paperwork that needs to be completed, which can vary in itself from property to property and buyer to buyer, therefore, it’s important that you instruct a conveyancing solicitor to handle all of the legal work involved in transferring the ownership of the property to you. Choosing when to instruct a conveyancing solicitor is quite flexible and you can do it both before and after you make an offer on a property.
Once you have made your offer on the property and you have arranged your mortgage lender, you can move forward to the legal purchase of the property. Depending on the mortgage lender that you have organised, they may require you to use a conveyancer that is on their existing mortgage panel. Do some research on the firms that are in your area and get an idea on how much conveyancing fees cost. We recommend that you look at which conveyancers are available to you, read some reviews and hear what heir previous clients have to say, collect some quotes and bear in mind that expensive doesn’t always mean best.
So at what point in the property purchasing process should you instruct a solicitor? Most people will instruct a conveyancing solicitor once an offer has been accepted, meaning that everything is in order for the conveyancer to start working on your purchase straight away. On the other hand, you can choose to instruct a conveyancing solicitor to act for you as soon as you start looking for a property to purchase or put your current property up for sale. The advantage of doing this is that you will save valuable time in completing the initial paperwork and carrying out ID checks etc. This means that your conveyancer will be ready to act for you as soon as your offer is accepted. Instructing a conveyancing solicitor either before or after your offer is accepted is common and both have their advantages.
Your conveyancer will act on your behalf to complete any legal documentation and searches, such as the local authority and Environment Agency, to ensure that the property has no major problems. Once all legal paperwork is completed, you have provided your conveyancing solicitor with any documentation they require, and the deposit for the property has been arranged, the purchase contracts can exchange. It is at this point that the seller is legally required to sell the property and you are legally required to buy it.
