Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash
You’re no stranger to the costs of buying a house. As well as the house price itself, you’re spending money on a host of extra fees. Most of these revolve around the legal work of buying a home and paying your estate agent.
Here’s the interesting thing: while it’s sometimes beneficial to buy a house with a real estate agent, many buyers are moving away from this approach to save money. You absolutely can buy a home without engaging with an estate agent, which leads others to question whether or not solicitors are necessary, too.
Imagine how much money you’d save on legal fees – but is this actually possible? Can you legally buy a house without using a solicitor? The answer may surprise you, yet there are also many other things to consider.
Yes, you can buy a house without using a solicitor
No rules or laws stipulate that you need to contact a solicitor to buy a house. In fact, there’s even a blog by HM Land Registry that explains you can go through the whole home-buying process alone. You’ll have to do what’s known as DIY conveyancing to handle the transaction.
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring property ownership from one person to another. It’s something of a blanket term that includes all the various legal and admin tasks performed during your property search – and going all the way to exchanging contracts/registering the property in your name.
It is entirely possible for you to deal with all of this on your own, though you have to question if that’s a smart choice.
Why it makes sense to stick with a solicitor
Paying legal fees feels like a kick in the teeth, especially when you’re already paying a lot of money for the house. Nevertheless, conveyancing solicitors are extremely beneficial throughout the home-buying process.
Without one, you’d have to handle all of these tasks alone:
- Drafting up contracts
- Liasing with mortgage advisors
- Exchanging contracts with the seller
- Transferring the property title
Many other tasks may fall in line with these, but you can already see how difficult this is on your own. Most of us don’t have a clue how to draw up the correct legal contracts for buying a house. More to the point, mortgage lenders will usually demand the presence of a solicitor before granting your loan. They see it as too great a risk to hand you a mortgage without a proper conveyancing solicitor being present to oversee and manage contracts. In that regard, while still not a legal requirement, solicitors are basically essential if you’re buying a house with a mortgage.
Conclusion: Don’t fix what isn’t broken
The lure of ditching your solicitor is appealing when you consider how much money you’ll save. On the other hand, it’s borderline impossible to handle and manage all the legal aspects of buying a home on your own. Some sellers might not even sell to you if you don’t have a solicitor because it looks a bit dodgy. Instead of attempting DIY conveyancing, look for other ways to save money when buying your home. This will help you slash the overall expenditure while still getting all the legal help you need.