Solicitors, what do they do exactly?

Vegeta

Hey folks trying to buy a house at the moment so clearly I need a solicitor.

Thing is what exactly does a good solicitor do? Honestly all I can think of is reviewing contracts but what else do they do?

When I ring around what should I be asking?

I have been told to get one that opperates at a fixed price but is there any other advice I should know about?

SkepticOne

Conveyancing is another thing they do. Making sure the owner is realy the owner and there aren't other claims on the property.

EKRIUQ

Solicitors have studied for years in College and have all the hard work done so they mainly just pass their unimportant work like conveyancing to juniors in the office or to outside company's

johnnyskeleton

Namesco wrote: »

Solicitors have studied for years in College and have all the hard work done so they mainly just pass their unimportant work like conveyancing to juniors in the office or to outside company's

That's a bit of a generalisation - that would be what the cowboy solicitors do. The good conveyancing solicitors will do all the tricky work themselves.

Vegeta wrote:

Hey folks trying to buy a house at the moment so clearly I need a solicitor.

Thing is what exactly does a good solicitor do? Honestly all I can think of is reviewing contracts but what else do they do?

They check title (i.e. makes sure that what the person is actually selling equates to what they say they are selling - very often they are not and there is a lot of bad title out there), they make obejctions and requisitions (i.e. to make sure that there are no hidden problems and that anything that can be fixed prior to sale is fixed by the vendor), they make sure that the laws have been complied with (in the case of a new house, planning permission, generally the family home protection act, the conveyancing acts and the registration of title act if necessary) they act as intermediaries between the purchasor, the vendor, the banks, the councils, and the land registry / registry of deeds, they often hold on to the title documents for their clients, they take care of any problems that arise and they advise their clients as to whether or not they should go ahead with the purchase from a legal point of view.

The main reasons why you need a solicitor are that if you are trying to get a mortgage, the bank will not let you do the conveyancing yourself (because while you might take a cavalier attitude towards the purchase of a house, the banks certainly will not) and if something goes wrong that was the solicitor's fault you can sue them.

Vegeta wrote:

When I ring around what should I be asking?

All you can really ask is price, because a solicitor is not going to be objective about their ability. You might be better off asking around amoung other people and see who they found good or bad.

Vegeta wrote:

I have been told to get one that opperates at a fixed price but is there any other advice I should know about?

If by fixed price you mean of the yellow pages "conveyance for €999 + VAT and outlay" then I would advise against them. A good, well established and trustworthy solicitor is worth the extra money in my view.

antoinolachtnai

The solicitor also represents the bank in the transaction. That is very important to remember.

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with a fixed-price, cut-price conveyance, or with a firm that advertises in the Golden Pages.

It is a much better idea to get a recommendation from a friend, as suggested.

Vegeta

Thanks folks, appreciate it

Yeah I have got a few recommendations anyway so I have a decent starting point

ZYX

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

If by fixed price you mean of the yellow pages "conveyance for €999 + VAT and outlay" then I would advise against them. A good, well established and trustworthy solicitor is worth the extra money in my view.

Disagree completely. Get the cheapest you possibly can. Remember solicitor can be anywhere in the country not just in area you want to buy house. Outside Dublin in many towns solicitors have unofficially fixed their prices and all charge the same outrageous rate. If you are outside Dublin ring a few for quotes in Dublin the competition is stronger and prices tend to be lower.

Jo King

ZYX wrote: »

Disagree completely. Get the cheapest you possibly can. Remember solicitor can be anywhere in the country not just in area you want to buy house. Outside Dublin in many towns solicitors have unofficially fixed their prices and all charge the same outrageous rate. If you are outside Dublin ring a few for quotes in Dublin the competition is stronger and prices tend to be lower.

Very unwise. A botched conveyance is a potential nightmare. People have ended up in boundary disputes with their neighbours, discovered judgments on their property, have been unable to re-sell and worse. At mildest people have endured delay and frustration. People who wouldn't let anybody but their regular hairdresser near their hair will blithely engage a solicitor based on price alone! It is madness. Personal recommendation is everything in this area. The dearest may not be the best and the cheapest may not be the worst but it is better to pay more to someone who has a reputation for efficiency and competence.

antoinolachtnai

Second the bit about the most expensive not being the best. I once saw a piece of conveyancing given to a particular solicitor for the reason that he was known in the area and was close by, in a leafy Dublin suburb. I suppose you could say he appeared to be well-established.

It became clear after about 14 days that he was treading water. He couldn't seem to figure out the issues around the conveyance (it was just slightly complicated, an assignment rather than a straightforward sale, and it was a new build so there were VAT/stamp duty issues, but still, it wasn't that tough).

He started making stupid suggestions, like asking us to get the vendor to sell the property to us for a price under the stamp duty limit instead of the agreed price, which was slightly over. His quote was also pretty high. So we just had to take it off him and move the work somewhere else (which worked out cheaper).

I have to say that I think one of the 'mill' places would have coped fine with this particular conveyance. It just wasn't that out of the ordinary, and we didn't need any special advice. A specialized conveyance place would be likely to have more experience of something like this than this particular local solicitor.

One thing about buying a house though, is that it tends to bring up other issues - you may want to get a will sorted out, or you may need to clear other debt or, commonly these days, you may need an agreement between yourself and a partner about what will happen if you split up. These things need a rather different approach from straightforward conveyancing. The cut-price places that concentrate on conveyancing are unlikely to be as interested in this type of work, or may not be as well cut out for it. Ideally you want a solicitor who can cope with all the work you might need done, not just the bare conveyance.

Incidentally, solicitors do carry insurance in case they screw something up.

Jo King

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Incidentally, solicitors do carry insurance in case they screw something up.

Yes. You can sue a solicitor for negligence and or breach of contract provided you find out within six years. Some problems do not manifest themselves until the property is being re-sold or re-mortgaged which may be more than six years after the conveyance.
It is also a major hassle suing a solicitor in any case. You have to find a solicitor willing to sue the first one which is going to take time and money and live with whatever situation you are in regarding the property during that time! It is better to try and get a good solicitor at the outset, even if it costs a few hundred euro more, than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards.

vibe666

get everything in writing and make sure its all done above board. We had a locally very well known solicitor and it turned out they were related to the sellers solicitor and we were on the verge of getting totally shafted over the purchase from all sides until a trip to the local CAB sorted everything out for us.