There are two ways to buy a home, by yourself or with the help of a conveyancing solicitor. When you go it alone, you don’t have any solicitor fees, but you might lose out overall if you pay too much for the property or discover some expensive issues with electrics, plumbing, energy systems, or the foundations. Many people agree that hiring a solicitor is one of the positive associated costs of buying a house.
What Does A Conveyancing Solicitor Do?
1. Organise legal paperwork
Buying a property isn’t as simple as mortgage lenders sometimes make out. First, of course, you need the deposit money and the backing of a loan company, but in addition, there are other fees to cover and paperwork to organize. These might include valuation fees or survey fees.
When you hire a conveyancing lawyer, you don’t have to worry about the paperwork or the fees. Instead, you can spend your time and energy arranging the move and planning the interior of your new home. Leave the legal side of things to the professionals who can save you money.
2. Property searches
Without a property lawyer on your side, you might find that you waste a lot of time searching for the right property, you might also lose money since finding the dream home isn’t always the most sensible investment. A conveyancing solicitors can perform a property search for you.
Tell your lawyer the type of property you’re interested in, and they will search the market and return some viable results. These results will come with a survey that tells you about any property issues, including electrical and plumbing issues. This can affect the valuation.
3. Frictionless transactions
Of course, it’s tempting to go it alone when it comes to buying a home. If it’s the second or third home, you might be more familiar with the processes, and it’s more viable. But if you’re a first-time buyer, you might lose money and waste time without the help of a lawyer.
That said, even experienced home buyers can benefit from using a lawyer. A conveyancing lawyer takes the money side of things out of your hands, leaving you free to enjoy the home buying process and the big move – the lawyer, handles any issues that come up for you.
4. Seller questionnaires
When you buy a home without the help of a conveyancing lawyer, there are a lot of unknowns. To ensure the property is adequate and viable, you will have to carry out a survey and make your own decisions on valuation based on the reports. A lawyer obtains more information.
A conveyancing lawyer with contact the current owners and ask them to fill out special questionnaires. These questionnaires include information on boundaries, parking, insurance, infrastructure, and planning permissions, all of which can affect the valuation and price you pay.
5. Claim help to buy funds for you
These days, many people buy homes using help to buy loans from the bank with their mortgages. These loans are backed by the governments and offer a discount on property purchases, but they need to be claimed appropriately – a conveyancing lawyer ensures there are no issues with claims.
James Banerjee is an Account Director who graduated from the University of Kent in 2014. He works in SEO on clients such as HSBC UK and Nestle and he has a keen interest in personal finances and money-saving advice.
