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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 until we were sent a price list from a panel manager the other day. Maybe we’ve got 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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