5 Great Tips for Finding the Right Solicitor Published 02/06/2018
If you are buying or selling your home, a conveyancing solicitor is one of the essential services you’ll need. Choosing the right person can certainly help to de-stress your move. You’ll need to provide their details during the first stage of the moving process. But who should you choose to represent you?

You’ll find that there are loads of credible, local solicitors to choose from. So where do you start?

The experienced team at JTM Homes have created a list of five great tips, based upon our years of experience within the property market:
 
1. Are they recommended?
Ask your friends, colleagues neighbours… who did they use, what was their experience… would they recommend them to you? 
Even better – ask the team at JTM Homes. We work with a huge number of solicitors and can let you know who works fast, communicates well and charges reasonable fees. If we have a good working relationship with them, we can help to keep your move progressing smoothly.
 
2. What do they charge?
Contact several solicitors and ask for a breakdown of their fees – plus what they envisage the additional expenses will be – such as searches, Land Registry fees and money transfer fees.
How firms handle this query will be a good indicator of how transparently they work.
 
3. Communication
Think about where your solicitor is located, as you might want to meet them or deliver documents to help your move process progress as quickly as possible. With this in mind, ask who would be working with you – is this the person who was recommended initially? (See point one above.) Ask for regular contact and the best way of achieving this (e.g. methods, times).
 
4. Conveyancer vs. Solicitor
Since1987, you can choose to use a specialist property lawyer over a solicitor to deal with all aspects of their property transactions. A conveyancer is has had less legal training than a solicitor but specialises in property.
 
5. Qualifications
Are your contacts qualified and practices in conveyancing? Solicitors should be listed on the Law Society website, which gives details of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme.  Conveyancers should appear on the on the Council for Licenced Conveyancers website.
 
Jason Dyer of JTM Homes has worked with almost all of the local conveyancing contacts in the Highgate and Archway area. He explains: “Everyone will need to a legal representative to transfer the legal ownership of a property – whether they are the vendor or the buyer. Researching your options and choosing someone who you feel you can trust and communicate with is vital in helping your move to progress smoothly. We are happy to help by sharing our local knowledge and contacts. Simply ask us for details.”