The rise of the comparison website has been one of the great trends of the past decade. It’s now uncommon to find a service or product that doesn’t have some way of comparing different outlets or providers to see who offers the best deal. The same is, of course, true of conveyancing solicitors, as there are websites that allow those buying, selling or re-mortgaging a property to compare conveyancing costs.
It goes without saying that Brits do love a good deal. Stats show that the majority of us are likely to use price comparison websites as a way of not only buying products or services, but also to research what is out there. This allows people to be better informed about the options available to them and whether they’ve been for example given a good quote for a service. As such, it’s a great idea to compare conveyancing quotes online.
There can be a bit of a myth that fees for conveyancing are much alike, but this can be disputed. It is true that the likes of land registry searches and registration fees are the same price across all solicitors, but the conveyancing quotes given by solicitors can vary quite dramatically. This is due to some solicitors choosing to mask or hide fees in quotes that almost every client will certainly have to pay.
When searching out a quote of any kind, not just for conveyancing, it’s important to get a detailed breakdown of what is included in that quote. In this instance, a bare-bones quote from a solicitor that would lead to hidden charges down the line would make a quote from a genuine conveyancing firm look expensive. Yet in the long run, the latter option may be cheaper than the former.
This is the problem with comparison websites that act more as aggregators. Many comparison websites for products, for example, are aggregators. They provide prices for products as they appear on a variety of websites. But the problem with services is that there is no RRP (Recommended Retail Price), as the service should be tailored to an individual’s needs. This is where curated comparison websites step in.
Unlike service aggregators, which will feature any price or quote from every source available (regardless of quality), curated comparison websites will have standards that must be met for a firm to appear on its list. This ensures that when you, for example compare conveyancing costs from the quotes of different solicitors, you can be assured that you are comparing like for like. For solicitor services such as conveyancing, which is a complex and sensitive field that requires professional qualifications, it is important that you trust your conveyancing solicitor.
A curated comparison website that allows you to compare solicitor’s conveyancing fees and that will only list genuine, professional and fully qualified conveyancers. Therefore, they are a crucial tool to use.
Irrespective of which method you use to find online conveyancing firms, make sure to gather a few quotes by phoning around or if you’re strapped for time, compare conveyancing costs via a curated index of trusted conveyancing firms.