A property is probably the most expensive asset that you will ever buy, especially when you consider that the price you agree for the property is far from the amount that buying it will actually cost you. There are a multitude of other outgoings associated with a property purchase, including Stamp Duty Land Tax, a property survey, building and contents insurance, interest on your mortgage repayments and of course, the cost of hiring a licensed conveyancer to handle the legal aspects of the sale.
All of these costs will be agreed up front, before you receive the keys and start maintaining, decorating and furnishing the property. Some savvy shoppers will make good use of comparison websites to secure the most advantageous mortgage and insurance, but conveyancing is a little different. Every property purchase is different and you may see some radically different rates advertised, tempting you to negotiate. But should you?
Should you negotiate?
First you need to identify a couple of potential candidates to perform your conveyancing. Select them based on their experience, expertise and availability. Their location is less important, as the majority of communication, including signatures, can be handled electronically so you are unlikely to visit them in person.
Once you have a shortlist of potential conveyancers, compare their quotes which should be itemised. Check that they all cover the same activities, are fully inclusive of all fees and disbursements and that they are all either hours-based or fixed fee. Fixed fee conveyancing is preferred, as the fee will remain the same, irrespective of the amount of time that the conveyancer spends on your case. This reduces your risk and aids in budgeting.
Online conveyancers such as https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/news/conveyancing/fixed-conveyancing-fee-121 tend to offer only fixed fee conveyancing and their prices are often lower than those of high street solicitors as they have lower overheads and rely on web-based tools for communicating with their clients.
If you are struggling to choose between two conveyancers, you could ask the more expensive one to match the price of their cheaper competitor. The worst that they will do is say no. As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
There is a balance to be struck
As with all things in life, with conveyancing you often get what you pay for. That is to say, a more expensive conveyancer may provide a higher quality service, faster response times and an expedited sale or purchase. However, you should not sacrifice value for money, so if a particular conveyancer’s quote is vastly inflated when compared against their competition, do not be afraid to discount them in favour of a better deal, provided that you are sure that they will be able to handle your case efficiently.