Do-it-yourself conveyancing!

[Miss-taken]

A mate of mine is buying a flat and foolishly (IMO) has decided that he's going to do the conveyancing himself (he's read a book and everything!)
Has anyone got any experience of doing this?
Horror stories would be good so I can pass them on to him!

[noxlumos]

Lots of people do it, most purchases are quite straightforward and really dont need a solicitor. As long as if he gets to something he really doesn't get the gist of he doesn't continue he should be fine. You don't really think solicitors are any brighter than the rest of us do you?

[gina32]

they may not be brighter than us but they do know all the legalities involved should anything arise

[buildersmate]

More likely they have a large book from Butterworth's that tells them.

[themas]

It may be quite simple when you are buying a freehold house, but if he is buying a flat it is likely to be in a block and subject to a lease, with a freeholder having a head lease. This makes the whole thing much more complex and it is generally recommended that people do not try to do this type of convyancing themselves. Leases are often long complex documents and understanding the rights and responsibilities of the various parties is not always easy. What is not stated in the lease can sometimes be as important as what is included.

[Stu Dent]

Nice one noxlumos. Hope you'll be so flippant if Miss-taken comes back later and tells us all her friend has lost the single biggest investment most of us ever make in our lives through having the introverted arrogance of thinking that Conveyancing is easy-peasy.

I suppose our prospective buyer should also do all their own plastering, plumbing, and electrical work too then? After all, DIY's easy isn't it - even if it does take years of training to truly know what you're doing. A bit like a solicitor actually.

Usually Conveyancing is straightforward. If so, great. Everything goes smoothly and you save a few quid doing it yourself. But a potential problem that goes unnoticed might come back to bite you later. Even experienced solicitors can screw up - but if they do, the buyer can at least be compensated from the firm or law society. What does a DIY conveyancer do once he's lost his home after paying the purchase price, perhaps moving in, and then finds out there is a problem - or that another party owns it.

Why take the risk?

[Eve]

I'm a property lawyer and may be biased haha but I wouldn't recommend anyone doing their own conveyancing unless they really know what they're doing especially with a lease!

Is he getting a mortgage? If this is the case I can't imagine the lender would accept it and would insist on using their own solicitors/legal advisors to protect their own interest. I this case he would be best off instructing solicitors who can act for the lender as a part of the conveyancing.

In any event, he may have a book telling him the process but does he know how to interpret the searches (and what searches to do if required over and above the standard), replies to enquiries (and even what enquiries to raise and what to question further), title documents and plans, other side's solicitor's correspondence and everything else. What about if other aspects are involved such as a sale by executor, if assents are involved or say the Court of Protection or trusts, charities, companies etc..., if anything could invoke the provisions of the Insolvency Act.

Would he know how to draft any additional clauses or documentation needed so they protect him properly? Could he spot and issue with boundaries which could lead to a costly dispute or decrease in valuation?

Would he know how to protect himself from any issues such as fraud (including mortgage fraud) or money laundering?

Does he know what should or shouldn't be in any contract or transfer (and if something should be in there how to draft it), the difference between standard and special conditions, the source of the standard conditions and which version is to be used and their effect.

[Eve]

Could he spot a defective Lease or part of one which could relate to an omission he doesn't even know should be in there or a drafting error which could be as simple as a letter in the wrong case or mispelt or missed/wrong word, how would he know what was meant to be in there or not , could he spot something that could render a vital part of a document inoperative and will he know what everything in the documents means and the effect it could have on him? For example does he know what should and shouldn't be in a forfeiture clause or how to interpret alienation provisions?

Would he know how to take a view on certain things and what is sufficient to cover any problems?

Could he spot an issue in say the planning history, whether it is relevant to the transaction and know what to do about it. Does he understand FENSA regulations, what documentation such as s.106/s38/278/s104 agreements are or say Article 4 directions should they appear on a search result or replies to enquiries and whether they are relevant to him? Could he spot issues with road adoption or other access issues or even issues like CPO's.

Could he spot and deal with issues such as absence of required consent or absentee landlord, good leasehold issues, ground rent arrears. Can he interpret and deal with any third party rights and beneficial interests, easements, covenants etc..., rights benefitting the property and reserved as necessary?

Does he know how to interpret everything in accordance with the other applicable law inc case law and know the appropriate law well enough to make sure everything is as it should be.

Does he know the importance of things such as pre-exchange and completion checks (and what they should be) eg bankruptcy and land registry searches and their benefits and limitations? Does he know how to protect himself properly in this respect eg with priority periods.

[Eve]

Does he know how to exchange contracts in the appropriate formula and what he is bound to do after.

Does he know how to reply to requisitions on title properly and deal with contained undertakings? In fact does he know where to get all the appropriate forms from for the transaction which can't be obtained from the Land Registry etc...from searches to protocol forms and requisitions on title. Even if the other side provide replies to a standard form, he would need to know what they relate to.

Does he know how to make sure he gets any finance such as mortgage funds on time and the effects of a legally binding completion date and contract provisions for the same.

Does he know enough about land registration to be able to register everything correctly so that nothing is missed or the land registry raise requisitions or cancel the application as it is defective in some way. Will he know what to do then to fix if indeed it can be fixed?

Adding to the points above about methods of redress for an error it could also affect him when he comes to sell and he incurs the costs and delay in sorting them out.

The other side's solicitors will not necessarily just offer up a solution to any problems, if he doesn't spot them it's not in their client's interest to incur problems for their client in sorting it out as if he doesn't spot it and completes then it's his problem.

Consider the effect of the other side's solicitors knowing they are dealing with someone who has had no training or previous experience of this type of transaction. They are not going to do his "job" for him! If dealing with a fellow professional they are more likely to pre-emp what will be raised and requested. Many things are not just given to you over and above what needs to be disclosed, it's up to you to spot them, advise, negotiate and deal with them as required.

[Eve]

Sorry for such a long post but this may give him some things to think about :) If he doesn't understand a lot of it that might be telling in itself x