The Solicitor versus the Conveyancer

Tuesday 18th January 2011 4:49pm

---

The purpose of this article is to compare a solicitor to a conveyances when discussing the right members of your real estate team.

 

Somewhere along the line in a property transaction you will require a qualified legal professional to arrange settlement of the property.

 

While DIY conveyancing is a trendy thought for many amateur investors, those who take their real estate investments seriously, and see a future within the investment sphere, must use qualified solicitors or conveyances to get the job done.

 

A solicitor is a generalist legal professional who may or may not specialize in property transactions.

 

A solicitor has completed a legal degree at university and has been admitted as a legal professional who is able to practice law.

 

Quite simply, the only reason you would use a generalist solicitor to facilitate your buying and selling transactions is if they have completed a conveyancing certificate and have extensive property market experience.

 

Solicitors are often used by investors who believe they will offer better legal protection if something goes wrong within the real estate transaction -- while this may be the case, a solicitor can be appointed at any time within the process as an adjunct to a conveyances.

 

Conveyances are usually not legal professionals in a generalist sense -- therefore, they may not have completed a law degree at university or been admitted to practice generalist law -- although there are some conveyances who are also solicitors -- they just specialize in property transactions only.

 

A conveyances will usually provide you with all of the expertise you need to buy and sell properties within the real estate market.

 

For quite a low price, conveyances will run all of the necessary property title checks and searches on the property and facilitate the settlement process as a middle man between both the buyer and the seller.

 

If legal protection is required, it is the role of the conveyances to alert the investor to this need -and therefore the investor can choose to appoint a solicitor.

 

The general rule is to form upfront relationships with a trusted solicitor, conveyances or both when considering buying an investment property.

 

It is not a good idea to opt for DIY conveyancing -- particularly when you are the purchaser.

Making sure the property is legally transferred into your name is not something you want to stuff up -- it truly is best left to the experts.

 

My Knowledge Tips

1. Somewhere along the line in a property transaction you will require a qualified legal professional to arrange settlement of the property.
2. A solicitor has completed a legal degree at university and has been admitted as a legal professional who is able to practice law
3. Conveyances are usually not legal professionals in a generalist sense -- therefore, they may not have completed a law degree at university or been admitted to practice generalist law
4. The general rule is to form upfront relationships with a trusted solicitor, conveyances or both when considering buying an investment property.
5. It is not a good idea to opt for DIY conveyancing -- particularly when you are the purchaser.