Do You Need A Conveyancer To Buy A House?
Purchasing a new home is one of the most stressful things to happen in your life. When you buy a house, you’re going to have quite a lot of quick decisions to make, and one of them is who will do the conveyancing.
Conveyancing explained
Conveyancing is the legal process of all the checks, legal information and registration of property that needs to be undertaken before contracts can be exchanged and completed.
Conveyancing is usually done either by a solicitor or a registered conveyancer.
Do I need a conveyancer to buy a house?
It is occasionally possible to undertake your own conveyancing process. This would be in the case of a simple property transaction on a freehold property, where there was no mortgage.
However, caution is advised even in a simple transaction. There’s a lot of legal jargon and a weighty number of forms to complete, you could hold up the process by not knowing when to complete what, and how.
There are some specific instances when it’s best to avoid doing your own conveyancing. These include:
1. When the property is leasehold
2. If you need a mortgage – most mortgage lenders will insist on a registered conveyancer or solicitor undertaking the process
3. If the property isn’t a straightforward house or flat
4. If there could be potential disputes e.g. in the case of an inherited property being sold or a couple who are divorcing selling the property.
5. If the property isn’t already registered with the Land Registry
In all cases, there are many areas where you could come unstuck e.g. in a boundary dispute or someone selling a property they’re not legally entitled to, so it’s advisable to reconsider even if you think you could potentially handle everything else.
Finding a conveyancer
If you get a range of quotes from a conveyancing comparison site, you can get a good price and a good quality conveyancer with very little hassle.
A conveyancer will understand the pitfalls, already have processes set up for council searches and Land Registry registration, and the experience behind them to know what to look out for in any sale.
This will be worth the fee, and the time saved by navigating complex legal processes and potentially slowing down the sale that is likely to happen with DIY conveyancing.
