Conveyancer or Solicitor

From: John P


When I bought my last IP I had the conveyancing done through a licensed conveyancer. My friend insisted that I should have used a solicitor when purchasing property. I said why? He said because solicitors have more clout!!!

I would like to hear other people's view on this matter. BTW Here's my tip when dealing with solicitors or conveyancers:(Especially to all you people purchasing for the first time)

Make sure from the outset that ALL fees are to be disclosed upfront otherwise they will start to say things like: Oh I forgot that because you actually need say, Certificate "X", we actually had to charge another $150 on top of the original estimate. Also make sure the costs are properly, clearly and accurately itemised. During my last purchase, my conveyancer got the secretary to do it in Wordperfect (For God's sake!!!!!)

It turned out that he undercharged me by about $240 (Serves him right)
 
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Reply: 1
From: Robert Forward


Hi John

I use Conveyancers when I'm just purchasing a normal property that has nothing out of the ordinary within the contract.

When I have different clauses within the contract that will make the purchase/sale a bit more problematic I use a solicitor.

Anyway, if a problem comes up with a conveyancer they will turn around and use a local solicitor to help out with the contract. Well most should anyway.

Cheers
Robert

The Sydney "Freestylers" Group Leader.
 
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Reply: 1.1
From: Phillip Monk


John,

Lawyers are OK if the deal is a little complicated, or if you need to "clout" someone.

However for a routine property transaction any competent conveyancer would be fine.

As an aside, I had a dispute with someone who wasted $100's on solicitors letters trying to scare me into coughing up some money. My solicitor said their case was so weak he didn't think I should waste money getting him involved. I invested $4.55 in a copy of the relevant act, from which I quoted relevant passages in my replies to them, and they soon went away.

All of which is a round-about way of saying that in many cases a non-lawyer can gain sufficient knowledge about the law to do a competent job. It's not rocket-science.

Cheers,
Phil.
 
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