What's The Fair Price for Conveyancer/Solicitor for Buying House in NSW? Is More Expensive Equal Better Outcome?

yummypinacolada on 16/05/2024 - 04:19
Last edited 16/05/2024 - 10:28 by 1 other user

I'm looking to buy my first home, I just got my preapproval. The next step for me is to find a good conveyancer that will make my buying process smooth.

I asked some recommendations through friends who just bought a house this year, my friends were only choosing the cheapest conveyancers however they still find the process of settlement going smoothly without any hassle. I have concerns on following 2 of my friends recommendations because they don't get much feedback from their conveyancers when they review the property contract, but they just happy that the settlement process was easy.

From what I've gathered conveyancers/solicitors cost from $900 to ++$2000, what should I be looking for on finding a good conveyancer/solicitor? Is solicitor better? I found that some solicitors are cheap in the $900 range, and lots of conveyancers actually cost $1500+. I'm really confused, I thought solicitor are supposed to be more expensive.

These are what I've found online so far:

Lawyer cost $990 - rated 4.6 on product reviews
Conveyancer cost $1k - rated 4.7 on Google reviews
Conveyancer cost $1.6k - rated 5 with 300+ reviews on Google reviews
Conveyancer and solicitor cost $1.6k + $285 for each contract rated 5 with 400+ reviews on Google reviews

If anyone can comment whether any of what I found is bad or good, that would be much appreciated. Should I go with the cheap ones or should I go with those which have lots of 5 stars reviews? I also welcome any recommendations.

Home & Garden Conveyancer

Comments

  • Dollar General on 16/05/2024 - 06:04
    +1

    If there are no special conditions or requirements, a conveyancer will be fine. Just make sure whoever you use has insurance.

    Considering you will be spending hundreds of thousands $$ on a property, if you want peace of mind, pay a few hundred bucks more and go with a solicitor experienced in this area

  • JIMB0 on 16/05/2024 - 07:16
    +2

    The cheap ones end up tacking on a heap of fees so they all end up the same.

  • scrambledeggs on 16/05/2024 - 07:41
    +1

    Cheap is better, it's not that complicated.

  • dtc on 16/05/2024 - 09:06

    Make sure you know what is covered in the costs eg do they deal with your bank or is this additional, will they charge if there is a change of dates or if there are special conditions etc.

    Most (like 98%) of conveyancing is rote administrative activity and there isnt much need to communicate beyond dates etc (note: off the plan purchases are a lot more complicated so worth getting good advice). Busy practices will be churning through 10 or 20 a day and dont have time to talk. This does mean you should self educate as to what is involved and what steps are being done and so forth, which will take you less than an hour and cost you nothing.

  • star-ggg on 16/05/2024 - 09:45

    Does a solicitor go through and assess the strata report for you?

  • MS Paint on 16/05/2024 - 09:45

    The solicitor at the more expensive establishments is just getting the admin assistant to do all the work anyway. It's not rocket science. I can guarantee they won't be reading your contract word for word from front to back.

  • rumblytangara on 16/05/2024 - 09:51
    +1

    My conveyancers were pretty good- the sellers turned out to be kind of dicks so there were some hiccups. This would have been a problem if the conveyancer didn't care about communications.

    Sellers wanted to rent the place back for a handful of months as they were looking for a new property. Not a problem as I was not in a hurry to move in, so the conveyancer suggested a (commercial?) lease rather than the standard lease. This was shorter term than usual and removed a lot of the rights for tenants to keep staying after termination. As it was, the sellers turned around and said the terms were too onerous and the rent was too high- bit of a red flag as they were supposedly only wanting to stay a couple months, and the rental price was the one that was marketed by their own REA.

    Then they tried to drag out the settlement process- they went incommunicado for a while as we were supposed to be closing, the so conveyancer proactively contacted me about this and suggested the next steps (they were pretty formulaic, but I had no idea what they were). The standard threat of legal action got the contract closed on time.

    It was good not to have to worry about timing or to chase the conveyancer on any of this stuff.

  • foursaken on 16/05/2024 - 10:04

    I've bought 2 places and sold 1 (actually right in the middle of selling and buying now). I went with the solicitor recommended by my agent as everyone that he has recommended has done stellar work, and my usual law firm flat out told me they wanted nothing to do with my wife so I'd have to find someone else for this transaction (they did the financial agreement and are in the middle of a divorce application so I understand their point of view and it's all about staff welfare before you run off and make assumptions).

    There's a TON of stuff you don't know and your lawyer does. My lawyer has stepped me through everything, nudged me when I needed nudging, told me what is unusual or common, and basically made me feel a whole lot calmer about the entire process while handling my wife. Considering how much money is flying around here, that's exactly what I wanted in a lawyer. I trust her every word and would gladly pay double for this peace of mind.

    BUT

    If you're just Googling a lawyer, it's all about price, right? And you're cheaping out on the management of probably the largest financial transaction of your life. Makes no sense to me. But it's your money.

    What I did initially was look for a recommended law firm and used this process to get a feel of what they were like. When I needed legal services later on, I knew exactly where to go, and I'm really thankful I did it this way.

  • mini2 on 16/05/2024 - 10:25

    It depends on how complicated the property is. Are there any weird easements? Is the house sitting near or on top of sewage or water lines? Are there any overhead power lines nearby?

    If it's nothing weird or complicated, just find a run-of-the-mill person and be done with it.

  • nige0090 on 16/05/2024 - 10:50
    +1

    The question is "Do you feel lucky?"
    If everything is straightforward and goes smoothly, cheap is ok.
    If problems arise (with vendor, title or their conveyancer), cheap is expensive.

    • pharkurnell on 16/05/2024 - 12:34

      Mate just went with a cheap joint in sth sydney…. shit loads of miscommunication finger pointing etc….
      ended up ok, but extremely stressful

    • yummypinacolada on 16/05/2024 - 22:46
      +1

      I also don't want to look for the cheapest, however the recommendation that I got from 2 of my friends who bought a house this year happened to be the cheapest ones(different conveyancer but both in the $900 range). Hence, I'm wondering if I go for higher fees would it guarantee for safer purchase.

  • SydStrand on 16/05/2024 - 11:45

    Went with the cheapest domestic conveyancing company I could find online. All managed via email and phone. No issues, although my settlement was very straightforward.

    • fozzie on 16/07/2024 - 18:37

      Hi mate could you pm name? Tried to text you but I couldn’t. Cheers

  • spal on 16/05/2024 - 13:30
    +1

    In my experience, higher fees is not necessarily a guarantee for better service. For me, the best service I received was from the cheapest conveyancer I have ever hired. This person got me out of a contract, reviewed another contract without any additional fees. He was very approachable and flexible when banks mucked up something at the settlement.

    You may in fact find that those charging higher fees, would have further higher fees to say answer a phone call or send an extra email. You best bet would be to very high number of good reviews. Read the actual reviews to see what they are saying about the services, responsiveness, value for money fees, etc.

    • yummypinacolada on 16/05/2024 - 22:50
      +1

      My gut tell me just to go with the cheapest that has hundreds of 5 star reviews, which ended up being ~1.6k fixed professional fee. Hopefully, its gonna be a smooth process.

  • CheapskateQueen on 17/05/2024 - 21:46
    +2

    i just used dott and crossit and i wouldnt recommend it. i found the whole process really annoying. they have auto process for everything, mass scale conveyancing.

    getting them on the phone was like getting blood out of stone. asking if i could get their bank details in person to transfer my very hefty deposit for settlement seemed to shake them to their core.. never happened. when i called a few times to diligently check my test transactions had gone through, they had the audacity to make a snarky comment.

    now my place has been settled for 2 weeks and i still have no settlement letter or final costs…

    edit - I can only guess they control google reviews because aint no one get perfect scores all the time, and I find it unlikely that my struggles to be updated about the process were a first

  • lloydc on 12/09/2024 - 14:47

    Conveyancer here - I came across this thread after doing some market research for the company I work for, but thought I would provide some insight in case anyone searches ozbargain in the future.

    I get to see how much other solicitors and conveyancers charge, as their payment is usually shown at settlement.

    The cheap quotes you see online are usually followed with over-the-top costs in other areas like searches and certificates etc, so the price jumps considerably when it's all said and done.

    Some cheaper online-based services outsource their work overseas

    A lot of solicitors do the initial work and palm everything off to legal assistants as soon as contracts are signed (some palm everything off to legal assistants for the whole conveyance)

    Expect to pay $1500 + costs on average - more for solicitors (~$2500+)

    My advice in choosing the right person to act for you:

    a) speak with the actual conveyancer/solicitor you are considering and hit them up with any questions that you have. Ask them how long they have been a conveyancer and whether they have any experience with the type of property you are buying and in the area you are buying in (local knowledge goes a long way IMO)

    b) If you get call centre/answering service vibes, and are asked to send an email or similar, then consider going somewhere else. You're making a large life-changing purchase and you will have questions along the way. You will want that point of contact to advise on the next steps or anything you're unsure of.

    There are plenty of good conveyancers and solicitors out there, so interview a couple and go with your gut.

    I know this thread is a few months old now, but hopefully this provides a little value and insight to someone :)

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join