Transparency is ‘key to success of conveyancing comparison service’
AN online service which enables home buyers, mortgage advisers, estate agents and property developers to easily and transparently compare the cost of conveyancing is being used by more than 130 law firms across England and Wales to connect with prospective clients – and the number is growing.
Stockport-based We Help You Too Ltd manages the Homebuyer Conveyancing panel, was founded by managing director Duncan Pattinson in 2013, and has steadily grown in popularity in the property and legal sectors because of its simplicity.
Pattinson’s idea was what he says all forward thinking property sales companies need – transparency with sales progression tracking. Had it been around it would have helped when he was MD of a buy-to-let sales company.
He told TheBusinessDesk: “I realised that if we could offer an impartial conveyancing service that investor buyers would benefit by having choice with accurate conveyancing costs and that our sales progressor would see the status of the transaction, that this would pay dividends to both property developer and ourselves.
“By solving this major problem developers can plan their cash flow and other property related companies can do the same.”
His comparison conveyancing search website enables people who want to buy, sell or remortgage a property – or their mortgage adviser – to accurately predict how much their conveyancing is going to cost and with it the total cost of moving.
“These are clients who want to hear from a solicitor,” Pattinson continued. “We use a key search partner Onesearch Direct. Where experience matters. Who supply the search pack to the Homebuyer panel Solicitors. The search pack comprehensively covers England and Wales and costs less than £200. They can compare like for like and there are no hidden fees. It’s impartial, informative, quick and transparent.
“The beauty of this is that the conversion rate is extremely high because people using our portal are genuinely looking to sell,buy or remortgage. When they take a quote away they are ready to move forward with their property transaction.
“Clients can filter by price, location and mortgage lender. It’s very easy to use, its transparent and it is not pushing people in a certain direction.
“You can compare accurate legal costs online and make a choice. You’re also not putting in any personal details so you’re not going to get bombarded with calls.”
Pattinson said the home market is currently undergoing significant change.
“Mortgage advisers have to give people choice,” he said. “It’s going extremely well.
We have a number of websites using it – property portals, mortgage advisers, anyone who would like to provide choice to homebuyers, investors should be using this service.”
Another advantage of the Homebuyer Conveyancing service, he said, is that there is also the opportunity to see how the transaction is progressing.
“In the back office facility, the business user can see if a person has been called, or if certain things are being done,” he added. “It ends that mystery that seems to surround what a law firm is actually doing on behalf of the client. It can clearly be seen.”
The Conveyancing Comparison service can been seen at http://www.homebuyerconveyancing.com