Estate Agent In-House Solicitor

[Budlet]

I am in the process of buying a property and have had an offer accepted. The estate agent has told me that as part of the 'deal' (whatever that means) I have to use their in-house solicitor. Could someone explain why this is?

[SirOracle]

I would think it could be unwise to use the "sellers "solicitor.

You would be wise to use your own solicitor to look after your interests in what is a major purchase.

[Baldric]

///Could someone explain why this is?///

So they can make even more money out of the deal!

[Budlet]

Thank you both. The estate agents reason for keeping it in-house is because the vendor is abroad and he needs to be able to be kept informed of progress regularly. I intend to get some quotes from local solicitors though.

[woofgang]

its not just the money. Any solicitor doing anything for you should be putting YOUR interests first. Not the vendor, not the estate agents, YOURS. I really fail to see how any solicitor can do this when they are representing more than one party.

[Barmaid]

Is this in England?

If so, I think it is utter nonsense. You are entitled to use your own solicitor. I might be inclined to write to the vendor (get his address off the land registry) and tell him that.

As has been said above a solicitor cannot act for both vendor and purchaser. Too many conflicts.

[bednobs]

i am going through conyevancing ATM - they keep me up to date with everything online and i can access it anywhere