We're looking at potentially moving to Scotland from England. I'm just reading through the conveyancing process and it is slightly different to the English system and we need a solictor to make an offer. Can anyone recommend a conveyancing solicitor in or near Edinburgh? I've searched on the internet but it's a bit confusing as the solictiors also appear to be advertising houses.
Hi
Its great fun...🥴
https://www.rankinaitken.co.uk/
Did mine and Jason terrahawks. Both of us sold in England and moved north.
Dereks a great guy very helpful
Happy to have a chat over the phone as someone whose recently done the move
Ps you dont need a local firm and most estate agents are conveyincing firms.
You sold in England? Signed contract?
You making a written binding offer or noting interest..
Yes it is different - and having just spent a week wrangling a written offer, our conveyancer is earning their keep.
You don't need local, but you do need one who knows the system.
https://www.irvinggeddes.co.uk and David Geddes is who we are using. Excellent so far.
We’re looking at potentially moving to Scotland from England. I’m just reading through the conveyancing process and it is slightly different to the English system and we need a solictor to make an offer. Can anyone recommend a conveyancing solicitor in or near Edinburgh?
We tend not to talk about conveyancer up here - you are lust looking for a property solicitor. There are loads. The ones in Edinburgh that also advertise houses club together as the "Edinburgh Solicitors' Property Centre - ESPC". Any of their members will be "OK" for a house transaction.
I’ve searched on the internet but it’s a bit confusing as the solictiors also appear to be advertising houses.
Many but not all property solicitors in Scotland also act as estate agents. But we also have estate agents who don't do the solicitor bit! It all seems normal if that's what you are used to!
Any Scottish solicitor can make your offer for you etc (offers need to come through a solicitor as essentially they can be binding as soon as the vendor accepts it). However, at least in non-covid times, there is usually some paperwork to be signed in person and so its helpful to have one that is going to be convenient for you. The last time we bought/sold the Edinburgh solicitors seemed to have agreed standard wording for offers etc - which was unique to Edinburgh, and so it may make sense to use an Edinburgh solicitor for an Edinburgh house.
Thank you for the recommendations. We're chain free, ideally we would rent up there first but that is looking to be tricky with the current market and owning pets. Is Rightmove the most widely used platform for selling in Scotland, or are there other sites we should also be checking?
Leslie Deans in Edinburgh, ask for Jacqui Brunsdon
https://www.deansproperties.co.uk/notice
She's dealt with a few property purchases for me over the past 10 years.
On the market and prime location more so than right move.
ESpC is another good resource.
I haven't been to my solicitor as they where shut everything was done via email or special delivery.
Derek was miles better than the solicitor who was 800yrd down my road.
Is Rightmove the most widely used platform for selling in Scotland, or are there other sites we should also be checking?
Currently the market moves in a few days - looking needs to be backed up by action within a few hours....
It's the same down here. It was a good time to sell but buying is proving to be just a little tough.
Use the one recommended by the Estate Agent who are selling the property?
Use the one recommended by the Estate Agent who are selling the property?
Unless of course you'd think that an Estate Agent (even a Solicitor acting as an estate agent) might have an interest in recommending firms that make their job easy rather than the most thorough, cost-effective or pain-free solicitor for the buyer!
It’s the same down here. It was a good time to sell but buying is proving to be just a little tough.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/have-we-done-the-current-house-price-increases/
Would recommend Urquhart's in Edinburgh. You don't need local but given the Edinburgh market operates in a bit of a bubble the local insight might be useful if you don't know the market yourself. ESPC is definitely my first port of call for Edinburgh buying and selling
Unless of course you’d think that an Estate Agent (even a Solicitor acting as an estate agent) might have an interest in recommending firms that make their job easy rather than the most thorough, cost-effective or pain-free solicitor for the buyer!
Don't disagree, but:
1 It's a sellers market at the moment, so need to be 'close'
2 All solicitors follow the same code
3 'Inhouse' usually reduces faff/cost and folk with slopey shoulders
4 Buyer beware
I've used this approach for +30 years and numerous sales/purchases, never had an issue and always got the house we wanted plus sold for what I wanted.
I'm with in the borders with that respect.
You all want the same thing. The solicitor is bound to act in your interests.
However if their recommendation is not a great solicitor it may not help
My sale in England went through the same firm different offices and it was painful...
I have used this company for three house purchases and they have been fantastic.
http://frielssolicitors.co.uk/
Based just outside of Glasgow but should be fine by post and email.
Don’t disagree, but:
1 It’s a sellers market at the moment, so need to be ‘close’
Not sure what you mean by close - but physical proximity isn't going to make much difference (other than the point I made earlier about Edinburgh sols having a standardised offer template that is/was unique to Edinburgh) even in normal times, but in covid times even in the same firm they are unlikely to be in the same office at the same time.
2 All solicitors follow the same code
All drivers follow the same code! If all solicitors were equally diligent nobody would ever come across a problem that was two house sales ago.
3 ‘Inhouse’ usually reduces faff/cost and folk with slopey shoulders
Or complacency, it will be OK, and don't make too much of a fuss because this is about the business hitting targets!
4 Buyer beware
That's precisely the purpose of the solicitor! Let me give you an example, when I bought this house (~12 years ago) my solicitor said to me, its on a brownfield site, although it was relatively recently converted (90s) the builder has gone bust and the records on what was done for land remediation are poor. We've increasingly seen lenders demanding indemnity policies for land remediation costs. Your lender hasn't asked for that, but I recommend that we make the vendor provide one because when you come to sell at some point in the future (they are transferrable to the new owner) it may be almost impossible to get a mortgage without one. They also required a particular letter of comfort regarding window replacements because the local council don't bother inspecting windows for building control. Now the vendor went ape shit - threatened to back out, claimed our solicitor was being unreasonable, their agent (a very well known local solicitors firm) said they'd never heard of the letter of comfort for windows until I pointed out that 5 years previously I'd sold a house to one of their clients who had insisted on exactly that. Now those things all seem like my solicitor was being a PITA and demanding things which weren't strictly necessary - the mortgage lender wasn't demanding them, I wasn't demanding them, the law society weren't demanding them. But my solicitor was acting in my best interests when I come to sell at some point in the future - because someone else's solicitor might need these and it would hold up my sale. That's why I wouldn't necessarily pick the solicitor who's recommended by the vendor's agent because they are probably not a pain in the ass to deal with as the vendor.
I’ve used this approach for +30 years and numerous sales/purchases, never had an issue and always got the house we wanted plus sold for what I wanted.
It makes total sense when selling a house to use the same agent and solicitor (or a solicitor recommended by the agent) - at that point, they both have the same interest.
Would recommend Urquhart’s in Edinburgh
I've used David Sangster for buying and selling four properties when he was at Neilsons, he is now with Urquharts. Really nice guy, super efficient as is his secretary (who does most of the work). I've only ever met him once, everything else has been done over the phone, email and by recorded post. We had one particularly difficult purchase where there developer tried ripping us off after the sale was completed, David took on the fight for us and didn't charge extra.
