Do It Yourself Conveyancing

[Sussexlady]

Sick of all the hassle of being a landlord, I've decided to sell up for the sake of my mental health!

I would like to attempt to do the conveyancing myself.

The situation is this:

My flat is one of two in a conversion. I bought the leasehold but afterwards I bought half the freehold with the owner of the other flat. She and I are on very good terms.

I emailed a company that sells Do-It-Yourself 'kits' and they said my circumstances make DIY too complicated and referred me to a solicitor.

Is this true? Why can't I do it myself?

Sussex Lady

[Poppy]

What are you selling: the leasehold, the freehold or both? The leasehold and freehold are separate commodities. I would not be surprised that the "DIY kit" cannot cater for anything other than just the leasehold or just the freehold.

To answer your final question - of course you can do it yourself. You simply need to be clear in your own mind what exactly it is that you are selling. I know nothing about conveyancing myself, but I do know that in this country you can "do it yourself".

[MrWoof]

I thought I would save some money by doing my own conveyancing so I bought the 'Which' guide to conveyancing. I still use a solicitor:( . One thing I do remember from it was that if the situation is anything other than a simple sale, use a solicitor or conveyancer. According to 'Which', your DIY kit company are right.

[Sussexlady]

The house is divided into two flats. I own the lease of the ground floor and the buyer owns the lease of the first floor. Between us we own the freehold 50/50. When maintenance costs arise we just split the cost 50/50. My buyer has a solicitor. I do not have a mortgage.

Seems to me all I have to do is prepare the contract, which consists of a sellers' information form and a leasehold information form, both of which I've downloaded from the Net. It seems that the Contract of Sale that I have to prepare consists of purely those two documents and a covering letter.

I have obtained a conveyancing checklist: "steps to be taken for the seller" which is used by a seller's solicitor to make sure she/he has gone through the whole procedure. Do you think I need to get anything else?

Has no-one on these boards ever done this?

Sussexlady

[Sussexlady]

I am selling the leasehold, which is 99 years beginning 1989, and also my half of the freehold. The buyer is the person who owns the other half of the freehold and it is her solicitor who holds the freehold deeds.

Sussexlady

[Tax Accountant]

As you are selling, there is not much to worry about. I suppose that the main thing you need to make sure about is the timing of receiving the funds and handing over the signed contract.

Also the fact that you are selling to the person who is the only other leaseholder and the joint freeholder, it should be relatively straight forward for the buyer's solicitors.

Good luck.

Ramnik

[orian]

Hi there, I personally think it is a bad idea to attempt handling the conveyancing process yourself. I tried it once when selling my previous house, but the entire process turned out to be very complicated and a real nightmare. I then handed the entire process over to a conveyancing firm. They handled the process there on for me and settled the matter in a very short time. I guess it’s because we have very little legal knowledge. Bye and all the best with the conveyancing.

[jeffrey]

Hi there, I personally think it is a bad idea to attempt handling the conveyancing process yourself. I tried it once when selling my previous house, but the entire process turned out to be very complicated and a real nightmare. I then handed the entire process over to a conveyancing firm, Convex (http://www.convex.net). They handled the process there on for me and settled the matter in a very short time. I guess it’s because we have very little legal knowledge. Bye and all the best with the conveyancing.
Are you endorsing your 'conveyancers' [solicitors?] because:
a. they did a good job; or
b. they are you?

Anyway, their/your link doesn't work.

[Esio Trot]

I would recommend that you don't discard the thought of DIY conveyancing - you learn a great deal about the nitty-gritty of the process of property transfers.

I used to do most of my own conveyancing - bit since I've done it as a business I've used a lawyer, principally as the cost is tax deductible and my time can be better spent elsewhere.

With many firms, your transaction will not, for the most part, be dealt with by a lawyer throughout. The majority of the donkey works will be done by a "legal executive". Then about a week before exchange, the file will be put before a lawyer to look through. This is why you often find a problem suddenly arising late in the day, which can and does delay exchange and gets people running around to resolve whatever it is. Most people wonder why this was not picked up and acted upon earlier - it's because its not until it was looked through by a lawyer that the problem was discovered.

You are selling, so this is much easier than buying. As you say, all you do is provide the paperwork. It is up to the buyer to check for problems and satisfy themselves that all is okay.

If you want a good read, there is a book called The Conveyancing Fraud by Michael Joseph (http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/product/0950502340/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt/278-1471855-4555611?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1) (died in 1995, sadly). It was written a couple of decades ago, but if you can find a copy (Library request?) it will open your eyes to the paucity of protection you have, even when using a lawyer.

[Lawcruncher]

With many firms, your transaction will not, for the most part, be dealt with by a lawyer throughout. The majority of the donkey works will be done by a "legal executive". Then about a week before exchange, the file will be put before a lawyer to look through. This is why you often find a problem suddenly arising late in the day, which can and does delay exchange and gets people running around to resolve whatever it is. Most people wonder why this was not picked up and acted upon earlier - it's because its not until it was looked through by a lawyer that the problem was discovered.

It is true that much routine conveyancing is done by unqualified staff, but they must be properly supervised. A lot of conveyancing is no more than high grade clerical work, but it needs to be backed up by experience and knowledge.

Can we please scotch the idea that legal executives are not lawyers. I am talking here about "proper" legal executives, that is Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives. Unfortunately the term does not, like "solicitor", have statutory protection and anyone can call him/herself a legal executive. However, the Law Society does have a rule (regrettably not always observed, perhaps because it is not widely known) that solicitors may not refer to an employee as a legal executive unless s/he is a Fellow.

The main difference between legal executives and solicitors is that legal executives study a narrower range of legal subjects, but the subjects they do study they study as thoroughly as solicitors. Legal executives are not permitted to practice on their own account in regulated areas of the law such as conveyancing, probate, litigation and advocacy, but they will soon be allowed to enter into partnerships with solicitors. Legal excutive advocates are permitted to appear in certain proceedings and before long they will be eligible for judicial appointments. They have for some years now, along with solicitors, barristers, notaries and licensed conveyancers, been able to act as commissioners for oaths.

I declare an interest in the above, being a legal executive.


The Conveyancing Fraud by Michael Joseph

I remember when the book came out and read it. He could just as easily have written "The Estate Agency Fraud", "The Financial Adviser Fraud" or "The Accountancy Fraud" and so on. Lawyers are probably the most targeted profession. This thread is not the place to ask why. He did make many telling points in the book, not least that solicitors probably overcharge. The book was probably a significant factor in breaking solicitors' monopoly in conveyancing, but the introduction of licensed conveyancers has not really had a great impact.

Do-it-yourself conveyancing is like do-it-yourself anything. Get it right and you save money; get it wrong and it proves to be a false economy.

It is perfectly possible for a non-lawyer to buy a guide and conduct his own conveyancing and get it right. But doing your own conveyancing is a bit like walking across a minefield. The mines may not be that close together so there is a fairly high chance that you will walk across the field without being blown up, but the risk of stepping on one is there. If your conveyancer steps on a mine his indemnity insurance is there to pick up the pieces.

And no one really does his own conveyancing if the other party is represented. Whilst there is no obligation on the other party's conveyancer to tell you if you are going wrong (and he certainly must not mislead you), the fact is that he has to make sure that the documents are correct and the transaction is properly conducted; he therefore provides some measure of comfort to the man going it alone. I would be interested to see how two unrepresented parties in the same transaction get along.

[P.Pilcher]

As I have said before on this board, many years ago, to save money and with the enthusiasm of youth I decided to do my own conveyancing for my first property. I was careful and had (as I do today) a few "legal" friends. As I was purchasing I needed a solicitor to do my building society work anyway and the friend I approached offered me, for a slightly higher fee, unlimited telephone advice. He also assured me that if my end went "pear shaped" he would happily take the work off me and sort it out - for an extra fee of course.
I was eternally grateful that I accepted his offer because the purchase did indeed turn pear shaped due to an unexpected lodger/tenant appearing on the scene, however after several telephone calls, I managed to sort it and finally was able to take possession of my maisonnette.
To do this work took me ages and ages of study and these days I am happy to hand the work to the conveyancing executive in a local firm. However my experiences all those years ago mean that I understand the process thoroughly and can keep her on her toes! It also enables me to appreciate a job well done and react accordingly - she aint half good at it!

P.P.