THE WEAK LINK IN THE CHAIN…

When your estate agent has found you a buyer the work of transferring the title to the property begins under the auspices of solicitors or conveyancers. It is vital that you pick a good one to act on your behalf and you definitely want one that gets on with estate agents.

Whilst some legal practitioners are only too happy to recognise that a smooth sale requires the cooperation of all the parties to it - seller, buyer, the other solicitor, surveyor, valuer and lender - there are some who have a pathological aversion to dealing with agents (no smiles please, I know the media myth that estate agents aren’t popular with anyone). That sort of attitude is entirely unhelpful because the only people who can talk to every party to the sale are the estate agents and if the sale gets off track this ability can prove invaluable.

You might think that once a sale is agreed there’s not much that can go wrong but the fact is that holding the sale together is one of the most time-consuming and skilful parts of an estate agent’s job. It requires an intimate knowledge of the transaction process so that issues and delays can be spotted before they become serious; a large helping of psychology for when problems occur and need to be negotiated; excellent rapport with valuers and surveyors to get reports through quickly; and an ability to juggle the sometimes unreasonable demands of everyone! A legal practitioner who begrudges engaging in this process is doing their client no favours.

My advice is that, when choosing the firm who will handle the legal work, you should ask them if they are willing to take calls from your estate agent and to liase with them in progressing the sale. If they prevaricate or say ‘no’ then find yourself another company because the wrong choice at this stage could cost you a sale. It’s why Harrison Murray only recommend legal firms that we know will not be a weak link in the chain.

Nick Salmon
Director, Harrison Murray Estate Agents.