Moving House? Instruct A Solicitor Early!

Are you thinking of moving house? Don’t leave your instructions to a Solicitor until after you’ve agreed a sale. Contact them when your house goes on the market.

One of the UK’s largest independent estate agent networks has released research data showing that there are a high number of home movers acting too late when it comes to instructing their conveyancer on their sale or purchase, causing significant delays in the home moving process.

Move with Us say that instructing a solicitor early on in the moving process speeds up transaction times and reduces fall through rates.

The survey, which was carried out within the Move with Us network, revealed that, rather than instructing a Solicitor at the time of marketing their property or when taking that first look, customers were only instructing a conveyancer once an offer to sell or buy had been accepted.

According to Move with Us, sellers that instruct a conveyancer at the outset of marketing their property and are legally prepared much earlier on in the transaction could move up to 11 days sooner, on average.  The estate agency network also believes that instructing a conveyancer early on can lower the risk of the buyer or seller pulling out of the transaction.

Robin King, Director at Move with Us, said:

“The property market is quickly gathering pace and it is likely that there will be more buyers than sellers on the market this year. With such increased competition, being legally prepared early puts buyers in a good position by being able to stand out from the competition and demonstrate that they are a serious, motivated and reliable contender.”

“There are lots of steps that home owners can take to speed up their move and reduce the chances of their sale falling through. This is particularly important in the current market as larger volumes of files for solicitors to work on are naturally increasing transaction times as they try to keep up with demand.”

Traditionally it has always been that buyers will only consider a conveyancing solicitor once they have had an offer accepted.  Now with increased rules about compliance and money laundering it will usually make sense to contact a solicitor as soon as you start looking so that issues like ID and source of funds can be sorted out before you have put in an offer on your dream home.

Chattertons can also give you an accurate indication of all the likely costs of buying and selling, advise you about Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds and even help arrange a mortgage so whether you are buying or selling or both it makes sense to contact us as soon as you decide to make that move on the property ladder.

Contact a member of the Residential Conveyancing team to get a quote and get the ball rolling.