Five reasons you should use a local solicitor instead of an online conveyancer

It was only inevitable that conveyancing, like so many other parts of life, would find a good enough home online. The complexities of buying a house are, supposedly, made smoother and easier to grapple with when everything takes place online, through a user-friendly webpage or app. It’s always there whenever you need it, which means you always know where you stand, right?

To a certain extent, but it’s certainly not as clean-cut as that – and, for the reasons we’ll look at below, there are still many reasons to take the traditional route and turn to the help and expertise of a local solicitor.

They know the area

The big, online firms with a nationwide presence, who operate using much more of a standard, cut-and-dried approach to conveyancing, are not able to offer the same detailed, local knowledge that you’ll get from a firm that has been operating within the area for years – if not decades. The Cheltenham-based firm Willans, for instance, has been operating within the town and surrounding area for more than 70 years – and, in that time, has served three generations of the same family. For anyone buying a home in any part of the country, it’s hard to argue that the level of expertise gained in that time can be rivalled by an online conveyancer.

This local knowledge affords you a much more personalised approach, led by a keen understanding of the risks and costs – what searches you’ll need to undergo – and what fees you should be preparing for. Buying a house in one area is not the same as buying it in another, so don’t assume you’ll get the same experience from someone who has never even seen the local area.

You’ll get better recommendations

One of the best places to get recommendations is the internet, but better yet are the people you know and trust. Family and friends who have already gone through the processes of buying and selling in your local area will be the best port of call for experience-based recommendations, and, for obvious reasons, these will prove even more reassuring than the anonymous reviews on the internet.

You can’t replace a face-to-face meeting…

There are plenty of reasons why a real, face-to-face meeting clearly beats an impersonal, online approach but, on a practical level, being able to pop down the road for paperwork or identity verification is considerably easier than the alternative.

…or feeling like an individual

Buying a house represents one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. Whether it’s first-time buyer anxiety or tenth time buyer nerves, having someone who is actively guiding you through the process – rather than being pulled through by a stock approach – means always knowing who you can turn to with questions and concerns. No one goes through this process without a tinge of apprehension, or a feeling of complete confusion, so keep in mind the value of having a friendly face from start to finish.

Remember that, in a situation like this, cheaper isn’t always ‘better’

Remember that efficiency is as important as cost in this situation, and that the right solicitor will strike a balance between the two. There are few things as stress-inducing as an online conveyancer that takes days to respond to queries, or weeks to send through the right documentation. Don’t consider the legalities of a house purchase or sale to be an area where you want to save money.