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The conveyancing process is NOT broken

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Date02 Nov 2020
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“Oh yes it is!” “Oh no it’s not”. While panto season seems a lifetime away, when it comes to the home buying process, the pantomime villains of the peace are definitely the lawyers. However, unlike these annual theatre-based bust-ups, arguments about the conveyancing process are far more frequent.  Barely a month goes by without an online flare-up, normally resulting in someone declaring; “The conveyancing process is broken – we need to start again”. In my opinion, this is just plain wrong. The conveyancing process is NOT broken. What do you mean it’s not broken? I can hear the cracking of...
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“You were only supposed to blow the doors off”

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Date27 Oct 2020
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When the chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced the stamp duty holiday in July, he probably wasn’t thinking about Michael Caine inching his way down a bus teetering on the brink of disaster in the 1960’s classic movie, The Italian Job. It seems many are fearing a similar cliff-hanger in March next year. When the announcement was made, the SDLT abolitionists had a party while the thoughts of lawyers immediately turned to a potential collapse of the market in April. But here we are, three months later and the petrol that Rishi threw on the property market fire is causing all sorts...
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COVID and technology

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Date06 Aug 2020
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 “My CRM was a cardboard box … that was full of files with no paperwork in them” Those were the chilling words uttered by a lawyer I interviewed for a job last week. Every few months, someone writes an article about how lazy lawyers are and how bad the conveyancing process is.  The comments are always the same; “tell us something we don’t know” or “lawyers are lazy and incompetent and the system needs to be scrapped”. So why are things so bad and what is it going to take to make the change? From my experience, it’s a combination...
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5 Questions clients should be asking lawyers

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Date17 Mar 2020
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It is starting to become clearer that the choice of property lawyer has an impact on the success or otherwise of a housing transaction. Unfortunately, it is still very difficult for consumers to gauge the quality of the service that they will receive from a lawyer. Obviously, recommendations are always the best option, but the source of these can often influence choice.  Indeed, sometimes recommendations are made purely because the person will receive a referral fee payment, rather than on merit.  Which is wrong for so many reasons that we’ll not go into here. But the problem is; if you...
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What we don’t do as lawyers

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Date05 Mar 2020
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One of the more curious aspects of conveyancing lawyers is the wide range of jobs they are expected to do. A property lawyer usually has to win the work in the first place, do all the administration, work out the financial side of things and still have enough time to advise their clients on the legal aspects of the transaction. It’s no wonder deals take so long to go through; there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all those things. However, there are some things that lawyers are not responsible for, and we though that it might be...
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How do lawyer panels work – a client’s perspective

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Date20 Feb 2020
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The choice of lawyer that a home buyer or seller makes can determine the success or otherwise of their deal. This is why an independent recommendation is ideal, but the problem is, HOW? Friends and family, an estate agent or broker who recommends purely on recent experience. Unfortunately for the consumer, many referrers and even supposedly independent comparison websites, have agreements with panel management companies. They manage the referral process and only choose lawyers prepared to allow the public to pay the additional fees. These are then passed to the referrer or comparison site. So is this a problem for the...
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Why is the public paying too much for cheap conveyancing?

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Date10 Feb 2020
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Pressure has been steadily mounting for more transparency and fairer pricing for the public when buying legal services. Indeed, when the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated the legal market they found that pricing was not transparent.  They have stipulated that for certain services such as conveyancing, lawyers had to put prices on their websites. The CMA thought this would help consumers compare prices between law firms, and enable them to make more informed decisions.  In our opinion, this plan was at best optimistic. It certainly doesn’t help the public avoid paying over the odds for conveyancing. How do lawyers...
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The Use of AI in Conveyancing

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Date17 Dec 2019
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We are usually disappointed when reading any articles about the role of technology in conveyancing.  This is mostly due to a chronic lack of ambition, imagination and thought. However, when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning in conveyancing, we are never let down.  Because frankly, no-one ever writes about it. What is AI and is it relevant Most technology discussions about the role of technology in conveyancing espouse the benefits of chatbots, portals and self-service quoting systems.  Hardly topics that are, in the words of Michael Caine, going to blow the doors off.  Whilst AI coves a...
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Five-things-a-lawyer-should-not-be-doing!

Five things a lawyer should not be doing!

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Date13 Dec 2019
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manualIf you believe the legal trade press, the process of house buying and selling is going through momentous change. There are regular press announcements of technology that is going to simplify the conveyancing process.  Sadly, the harsh reality is that conveyancing is dominated by small law firms that have not changed for years. Any suggestions of new working practices are quickly dismissed. With lawyers getting involved in all aspects of the transaction, the quality of client service will continue to deteriorate. Based on our experience of interviewing lawyers, we’ve identified 5 activities that we think they need to stop doing...
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The life of a Conveyancer…

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Date06 Dec 2019
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We regularly speak to estate agents about their frustrations in dealing with lawyers with most saying they are often reactive rather than proactive and generally non-communicative. The challenge is that conveyancers are held back by a mix of paper-based systems and old-fashioned working practices that have dogged them for years. While there is no such thing as a typical day in the life of a conveyancer, here are some of the daily challenges they face which might go someway to explain why they find it so difficult to be as responsive as most would like. The changing role of the...
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Why do property law firms struggle to answer the telephone?

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Date28 Nov 2019
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One of the most common complaints about property law firms is how difficult it is to speak to someone about a case.  This second only to the complaints about the difficulty to speak to someone who actually knows anything about the case.  Why is it so difficult to actually speak to a knowledgeable conveyancer and what is the solution? The key problem Most law firms are owned and run by lawyers who are used to do everything themselves. For example – suggest to a lawyer that a salesperson could do a quote and you will receive the following response;  “No. ...
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Using technology to protect clients against fraud

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Date20 Nov 2019
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Fraudsters are constantly looking at different ways of stealing money from people who are buying or selling a property.  As lawyers, we have a responsibility to help keep our clients’ money safe.  Which is why we turn to technology for help. A typical approach Most law firms we deal with use traditional paper files and email as their main method of communication.  Therefore, their clients will have to rely on this type of insecure technology. This puts them at risk of various frauds such as impersonation or interception.  Law firms that are serious about protecting their clients must not use...
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5 top tips to protect clients against fraud

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Date13 Nov 2019
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When buying or selling a property, there are two key issues facing clients.  The first is losing their money to fraudsters.  The second, and possibly worse, is losing their property to the same fraudsters.  Either way, the outcome is not good. While lawyers are obliged to protect their client’s money and property, clients must also protect themselves against the ever-more sophisticated criminals looking to steal from them. Basic email security Fraudsters know that consumers are quite lax when it comes to email security and use this to their advantage.  Given that lawyers rely on email with their clients, once a...
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Anti Money Laundering and Lawyer Due Diligence

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Date06 Nov 2019
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According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2017 the size of the “hidden” or “black” economy in the UK was just over 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) i.e. roughly £100bn. This is a massive cost to the country.  Crooks who are looking to use property to carry out money laundering have a formidable adversary defending our government’s tax receipts. Yes, your friendly, local solicitor. And his secretary. It starts off tricky … Increasing numbers of people are now required to check that people buying property are who they say they are.  For example, in a rather weird turn of...
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Fraud – law firms need to wake up to reality

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Date31 Oct 2019
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Every day, conveyancing firms transfer millions of pounds to clients and lawyers… And crooks.  Being an ideal target for fraudsters, most law firms are struggling to understand how to deal with this problem. A dose of reality In 2018, clients in the property sector lost over £216m due to fraud.  Law firms rely on email to communicate with their clients, despite email scams being a common fraud.  For instance, fraudsters will use a similar email address to a law firm.  They then email the client advising them that bank details have changed and to send their deposit to the new...
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STP – The importance of one set of data

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Date25 Oct 2019
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Anyone familiar with financial institutions will know that the introduction of “Straight Through Processing” (STP) revolutionised their business by reducing risk.  It was a simple solution to a complex issue that imposed the discipline of ensuring data throughout a transaction did not change from start to finish.  So what has this got to do with conveyancing? The data problem Conveyancing today has an appalling reputation for being highly inefficient.  This is due primarily to the lack of attention that law firms pay to how they capture and use data.  Even where companies do use case management systems; property information, addresses,...
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5 ways agents can help in the buying process

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Date18 Oct 2019
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As we have seen with the ups and downs of the online agency business, getting deals through in today’s market takes a great deal more effort than just listing and getting an offer.  It’s a rare deal indeed when transactions move through in four to six weeks. Here are our top tips of how agents can help get deals through more effectively. 1. Get it right from the start It sounds obvious, but we are still seeing too many chains based on optimism rather than a clear defined path.  Qualifying both sides of the deal is critical, as is checking...
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Building regulations: What agents should know!

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Date10 Oct 2019
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When an issue of building regulation approval comes up on a transaction, a collective shudder goes through everyone involved. Buyers and sellers get nervous, and the agent has to rely on the lawyer to sort it out.  What are building regulations and can anything be done to avoid any issues arising? What are they? People confuse building regulations with planning permissions but they are very different.  They cover health and safety issues, such as whether a staircase to a loft conversion is too steep. New buildings, conversions and even small alterations such as the removal of a chimney breast must...
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Self-service: What consumers are REALLY looking for

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Date01 Oct 2019
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People want to do everything through their mobile phone in the same way as buying home insurance or booking a holiday.  But can such a self-service approach be used to benefit conveyancing clients? 100% self-service We introduced a web portal a few years ago to protect our clients against fraud.  Today, on average, our log in over 75 times during their transaction, with the most active viewing over 450 times. They obviously want to know what is going on. While some would like to do everything themselves, conveyancing is complicated and there are some practical problems stopping them doing this. ...
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The key to growth in conveyancing – Technology

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Date27 Sep 2019
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If you’ve ever wondered about the secret to McDonalds’ success, it’s their French Fries.  Customers know that wherever they are in the world, they always taste the same. The ability to scale a consistent service is vital for any business, and this is particularly true for conveyancing. Firms must expand to survive which means hiring more people, opening new offices and investing in technology.  And this is where it typically goes wrong. The acquisition short-cut myth All small law firms reach a point where the owners must retire, which often involves offering their client base to another company looking to expand.  ...
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5 reasons law firms should have a sales team

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Date19 Sep 2019
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Most law firms don’t employ sales people because their owners don’t see the point of them.  Here are our top reasons why they should start investing in a sales team: Reason 1 – Lawyers aren’t sales people Sales involves spending a huge amount of time on people who usually don’t want to speak with you.  Sales people understand this goes with the territory, which is why this isn’t always easy for lawyers. Reason 2 – Lawyers should do the Lawyering Lawyers should focus on getting deals through, not spending time giving quotes which can take up most of their day. ...
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Sales Progression – Managing the chain

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Date10 Sep 2019
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Government figures currently show deals take on average 19 weeks to go through with about 35% failing. Due to this there is now much more emphasis on sales progression. Agents need to understand more about the legal aspects of home buying and the importance of managing the chain. The key challenges of progression Agents are faced with the challenge of determining the progress of part of the chain as it involves different lawyers each using their own unique approaches. Progress can be measured by simple milestones such as whether a contract pack has been received or searches ordered. However, a...
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Why don’t law firms have sales teams?

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Date05 Sep 2019
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When we mystery shop our competitors we are often shocked at their atrocious approach to winning new business.  Where we do manage to speak to someone, it’s a lawyer who asks a couple of questions and says they will email a quote to us, hurrying us off the telephone as quickly as possible. Why do law firms place so little importance on winning new work? Sales is easy We believe that the thinking behind this is because business owners know that lawyers are bright people and selling requires little skill so those, who know their subject, will win the business. ...
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“When good enough is really not good enough”

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Date19 Jun 2019
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Whenever the subject of “online” agents is mentioned there is an outpouring of dismissiveness.  Unfortunately, the low-price genie is out of the bottle.  Some online agents have demonstrated, this does not enable them to provide the service needed in today’s market.  However, from a consumers’ perspective, these offerings are innovative, modern and let’s face it, when you’re picking an agent, it’s only got to be “good enough”.  The challenge we find is that agents are having to work harder than ever to get the message across.  When it comes to getting deals over the line, service makes the difference. “Just...
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If you think Game of Thrones is brutal – try getting a conveyancing quote

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Date17 Apr 2019
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Despite the Government’s wonderfully naive intentions to break down the walls that cause such divisions in the house buying process, there are no signs of any dragons flying in to save the day.  Which is a shame, because as clients when you are asked the question “Have you got a lawyer?” it’s like being thrown into a Game of Thrones-like medieval world of unfamiliar terminology, awkward alliances and a completely unpredictable outcome. A ‘cheap conveyancer’ google search nowadays will result in a number of price comparison websites, typically sporting an “Expedia circa 2003” look about them.  They all promise to...
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Agent referral fees – It’s not all doom an gloom

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Date18 Mar 2019
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We talk and meet with over 200 agents every month and discuss the most effective ways we should work together, which we like to think gives us a good insight into many of the issues they face today.  That’s why the recent announcements about referral fees and a merger between the owner of a major panel manager and the country’s largest conveyancers, were of particular interest to us. Just a reminder – the government has told agents that they’ve got a year to start telling their customers about the size of referral fees they receive, or they’ll be back with...
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We need a faster horse!

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Date06 Mar 2019
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When Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motors was quoted as saying; “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” he could have been talking about the conveyancing industry. Frankly, we read too many articles by armchair experts about how technology is revolutionising the way that lawyers work, when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.  Not being funny, but when a law firm implements an online form and this is considered newsworthy, we know that the adoption of new technology is not exactly high on your average lawyer’s agenda. Whilst we...
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“Can Technology help achieve the one-to-one goal of service delivery?”

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Date23 Jan 2019
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When lawyers, having been subjected to years of relentless approaches by case management salesmen, finally submit and sign on the dotted line, they typically find that the breathless wait for the benefits to deliver, tends to be just that – a breathless wait. Using technology to deliver joyful client service in the legal industry is rarely successful as initial optimism gives way to cynical disappointment. However, rather than consigning it to the “too-difficult” pile, the deployment of technology must be better understood and applied to processes and requirements that genuinely meet the goal of service delivery. That goal is to...
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All I want for Christmas is a perfect conveyancer!

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Date19 Dec 2018
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Whilst 2018 has taught us to be careful what you wish for, here are some of our ideas we think make up an agent’s ideal lawyer. Ludicrously low caseloads As we know, agents typically struggle to speak with lawyers. The ideal lawyer would only work on half a dozen cases at most – ideally, just those of the agent’s and no one else’s. Live in the office It’s fairly common that agents (and clients) can’t get hold of lawyers because they’re on holiday (obviously without letting anyone know in advance), “in a meeting” or the phones are switched off because...
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Are you using a conveyancer who’s a member of the sales prevention team?

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Date21 Nov 2018
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Frankly, being an estate agent (especially in London) is not a barrel of laughs right now. And just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, with sellers not budging on price and buyers using any excuse to walk away, your boss does a deal with a panel manager and you are forced to tell clients that “our hand-picked expert lawyers will get your deal through more quickly”. As Joseph Goebbels said: if you’re going to tell a lie, make sure it’s a BIG one. Although there are many LinkedIn experts offering sage-like advice on improving your service offering, we think...
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“First they come for the lawyers …”

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Date11 Oct 2018
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Martin Niemölller 1940’s poem, “First They Came …” warned about the rise of the right-wing in Germany and started with the words; “First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out … because I was not a socialist.  Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out … because I was not a trade unionist”. Suffice to say, the poem doesn’t end on a positive note. It brings to mind the news that from this December, all lawyers (especially those doing conveyancing) must be totally transparent about the services they provide – documenting...
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Should lawyers be allowed to take holidays?

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Date06 Sep 2018
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Thinking about Jon Snow’s concerns in Game of Thrones that “winter is coming” brought to mind an issue that arises in the summer months and drives terror into the hearts of even hardened agents. This issue is typically revealed after a call to a conveyancer for a case update elicits the following response: “I am sorry but the lawyer on that case is on holiday.” Now, we’re not saying lawyers shouldn’t take holidays. Frankly, given the fractiousness we’ve experienced from our counterparts recently, some of these keyboard warriors could do with a bit of time away to relax. However, the way lawyers...
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“Technology? That’s for kids, not Conveyancers”

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Date03 Aug 2018
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If you’ve not actually said it, you’ve no doubt thought it: “most lawyers are slow and inefficient.” We don’t disagree, but the burning question is, “why?” Typically, it’s because of a historically sceptical attitude towards the benefits of technology and how it is implemented. Businesses are underpinned by the quality of their technology, and if people saw how law firms typically use it, they’d start to understand why their service levels are often so appalling. Our experience of speaking to and hiring lawyers from a range of firms give us an insight into how they are run and their sheer...
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Boris was right – it’s all about control

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Date25 Jun 2018
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Last month, we were challenged to write about the wider issues faced by the house buying public rather than just those suffered by “whining conveyancers”.  To be fair, lawyers are known to whine.  It’s usually because they work in old-fashioned environments with ludicrously high caseloads and constantly ringing telephones caused by a complete lack of understanding of service provision. We really didn’t need the government to run an enquiry into what is wrong with the buying and selling process.  Budget-starved Whitehall could have saved a fortune by popping into a couple of estate agents, called a few lawyers and carried...
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“Buckle up, we’re going to be experiencing some turbulence”

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Date12 Jun 2018
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It’s that time of year when our thoughts turn towards summer holidays with travel to warmer climates, freedom and a break from damp mornings, train malfunctions and buyers changing their minds because, well, just because. Of course, all the excited anticipation of the holiday is somewhat tempered by the pilot’s announcement on first boarding the plane that “in the event of an emergency, you’ll need to adopt the brace position”. Which is timely advice for agents right now with the latest Sunday announcement from the Housing Secretary Sajid Javit, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-professionalise-the-estate-agent-market who seems intent of ruining any agent’s carefree holiday plans....
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“Honestly, why does conveyancing take SO long?”

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Date18 May 2018
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It was Michael Gove, who famously said “I think that the people of this country have had enough of experts” but when it comes to those expressing opinions about why house buying and selling is so slow, we have to agree. As a company deep in the muck and bullets of the residential conveyancing front-line, we’re bemused by the opinions expressed by those armchair generals viewing the battle through their rose-tinted telescopes on comfy sofas.  They come from all walks of life – government, trade bodies, consumer watchdogs and even those panel managers that make such an invaluable contribution to...
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Can a solicitor REALLY affect the outcome of a deal?

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Date16 Mar 2018
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When we’re talking to agents, our favourite question is “what do think makes a good solicitor?” Most normally say “someone I can always get hold of” or “someone who can get deals through”. This presents a challenge for agents to ensure their clients and buyers actually do choose the best solicitor.  Given that every deal seems more challenging than the last, understanding how things can go wrong is a useful way to help explain to clients that their choice of solicitor may determine whether a transaction succeeds, or fails. In the past, solicitors could be confident that mistakes could be...
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It’s all about exchange. Obviously.

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Date30 Jan 2018
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We spend a lot of time talking to estate agents and the most common feedback we get is that they are frustrated by how long deals are taking, the difficulty involved and fall-through rates. The actual figure for the number of deals that fail is understandably difficult to pin down – it’s not something an agent will want to publicise. Indeed, the recent accusations about the completion rates of “online-only” agents definitely has a whiff of glass houses and stones about it. When the government published their highly ambitious consultation last year, outlining their plans to “fix the broken housing market”...
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New government initiative – are they trying to solve the wrong problem?

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Date22 Oct 2017
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We knew that the government were going to look into the house buying and selling process, so we weren’t surprised to see it hit the headlines this morning on the BBC. However, we were a little bit disappointed to see the focus on “gazumping”, a problem, that frankly, we see very little of these days.  Ask any estate agent about issues caused by buyers fighting over properties, and you’ll see a look of wistful wonderment as they try to remember the last time this issue raised it’s ugly head. Suffice to say, the problems with the house buying and selling...
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Donald Trump for President – that would be mad!

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Date05 Oct 2016
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We thought that the prospect of The Donald becoming president of the United States was the ultimate in madness. That was until we were sent a price list from a panel manager. Maybe we’ve got a little too much self-respect, but when the proportion of a legal fee going to the referrer is higher than that going to the lawyer, something is not right with the world. Given that agents know that low fees are not good for any industry (especially theirs) we’re amazed that people still use such organisations. Although “Additional Revenue Streams” is a common mantra these days,...
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