Conveyancing solicitors are solicitors you need when selling or buying a property. They mainly guarantee that all legal requirements have been met and the rights of the buyer or seller are protected. This is not the only thing they do; conveyancing solicitors also give advice, draw and lodge documents to relevant offices, act on your behalf, carry out thorough research about a property and more. Here's what you need to know about conveyancing solicitors:

Terms That May Seem Confusing

When you are looking for a conveyancing contractor, you might come across the terms conveyancer, solicitor or conveyancing solicitor. Do these terms refer to the same type of solicitor?

Conveyancer

This is a professional who is qualified to specifically handle matters concerning the transfer of real estate between a seller and a buyer. He or she is also capable of giving legal advice, helping with the drawing and lodging of documents and carrying out research about the ownership and problems that come with a property. A conveyancer is, however, not a qualified lawyer and cannot represent you in a court of law if the property you are trying to buy or sell has legal issues.

Solicitor

A solicitor does everything a conveyancer does but has the advantage of being a qualified lawyer who can represent you in a court of law if the property you are trying to buy or sell has legal issues.

Conveyancing solicitor

This is just a term used by solicitors to make it clear to clients that they handle conveyancing work. If they only used the term 'solicitor', they would miss out on many clients who are looking for the term conveyancer or conveyancing.

Who Should You Hire: A Solicitor or Conveyancer?

This depends on whether the property in question has legal issues, your budget and your preference:

A property with legal issues: You, of course, need a solicitor to help you purchase or sell such a property because he or she is a qualified lawyer. A conveyancer might not be able to represent you like a solicitor.

Your budget: If a property does not have any legal problems, you can either hire a conveyancer or a solicitor. A solicitor is, however, more expensive than a conveyancer because he or she is more experienced.

Your preference: Sometimes, you might just feel better and more secure hiring a solicitor because of his or her skillset. If this is your choice and you can meet the solicitor's fees, you can go ahead and hire a solicitor.