Conveyancing issues

I am not an expert on conveyancing issues (as my solicitor will assure you!) but I do know the basics. I have now found myself an excellent conveyancer (it isn’t always a solicitor who does conveyancing) and I wish I had found her years ago.

The most frustrating part of a property purchase can be trying to understand the legal process of buying a property and then trying to deal with solicitors/conveyancers who are very poor communicators. Often it can feel like hitting a brick wall. You have found the property you want, done everything that has been asked of you but then it seems to stop with the conveyancers. You keep asking them what is going on and you will inevitably be told that we are waiting for something from the other side or the mortgage company. In this instance the process is out of your hands. You can try ringing the vendor’s solicitor but as they are meant to talk to you this probably won’t help.

One of the things I do is comply as quickly as possible with my solicitor’s requests and I also write down what I have done and when I have done them so that when I am accused of slowing the process down (as often happens when someone is trying to shift the blame) I can state dates and actions. When you state these to parties such as estate agents and vendors they often realise that the fault lies elsewhere and focus their attention in the area needed – often their own solicitor. I often receive an agitated phone call from the vendor/estate agent – it’s great to take the heat out of an issue by just stating to them that I am going to check my notes. I then say what has happened. This tactic on its own takes some of the heat out of an issue and the other side realise you are organised and do start to think it could be someone else’s fault!

If you do have a good conveyancer I would suggest not ringing them too often as this will slow them down and get on their nerves. Just ring them periodically or when you need to so that they know you aren’t a time waster and if you need to talk to them it is important. If you do this you will get more calls answered.