An anonymous high street conveyancer reveals the truth behind the joy, frustrations, and the unexpected humour in being a high street conveyancer. Read their Diary in Today’s Conveyancer every week.
We all know that conveyancing seems to be getting more argumentative – the estate agent rings the bell and battle commences! But this week, something really positive happened in my conveyancing world and it led
I had decided what I was going to write about this week, and I am sorry to say that it was fees. I then saw the results of Today’s Conveyancer’s poll and was struck by
So, additional enquiries are still irritating, annoying, and frustrating us! I know that there are some which we have to ask because they arise out of the contract documents, but it is those standard ones
If I could have one magic wish to make conveyancing slightly easier, it would be that there should be more transparency. We do not get told the length of the chain nor the identity of
As a week progresses in conveyancing land, I do sometimes stop and think about the work. This week, I was thinking about my favourite part of the transaction. Is it when you call the client
I have been thinking about the speed at which transactions happen – there is a lot of chat on social media about speeding up transaction times but as I have said before, do clients really
It is funny how I get an idea as to what I am going to write and then it becomes a topic for discussion on social media – a bit like when you discover a
I went to a property conference this week. I always find the sponsors at such events an interesting mix. What struck me was how many companies were offering services, and it is clearly the case
I was disappointed to read this week that a conveyancing firm is closing. Whatever the size of the firm, I am always saddened to hear of firms closing, and I think about the staff and
I had a transaction this week where on the sale of a standard semi detached house, I received fifty (yes, fifty, 5 – 0) enquiries. The word to describe my reaction was disbelief. With all
There has been a lot of talk about ChatGPT as of late. As such, I have not written my diary this week, instead handing over the responsibility to an invisible conveyancer – more invisible and
Turn your mind back to two years ago: we were coming to the end of the “first” SLDT holiday. Originally intended to end in March 2021, then extended to the end of June 2021, with
I was shocked this week to find that last week’s diary entry had been reposted on a conveyancing forum and one lawyer had commented: “is this going to be renamed the High Street Conveyancer’s Rant?”
I am going to write about something I have written about many times before, but I make no apology for writing about this again: costs and fees. I was asked to provide some figures for
So as we head into another week which leads to a Bank Holiday (and another four-day working week), I thought it was time for us conveyancers to have some fun. “Fun?”, I hear you shout.
I often mention my “pet peeves”, and let’s be honest, after doing this job for so many years, there are a few! But let me tell you about one which irritates me – one which
Two Bank Holidays in consecutive weeks – two four-day working weeks. It has been nice after the never ending workload of the last two to three years to have a more relaxed start to the
Being a solicitor, I like rules and I like (most) laws. I like the fact that barristers wear wigs and gowns; I like the fact that Judges wear robes – no dress down Fridays for
I was reminded this week of the world in which we live as conveyancers and the language we use which is specific to our role. I had sent a report on the Local Authority search
This week, I took a phone call from a client I had acted for some years ago. I think all conveyancers will recognise this type of statement: “I just need you to transfer the deeds
It has been a very pleasant Easter/long weekend and it prompted me to think back on the last few Easter breaks. Go back to 2020 and we were in lockdown. 2021, we were in the
You will recall that at the end of last year Michael Gove stated that he was intending to help those home owners who were trapped by the cladding scandal. Fast forward and we have the
So we have come to the end of the first National Conveyancing Week and I have to say that I do think it was a resounding success. There were many interesting discussions and forums and
Welcome to National Conveyancing Week! There are some very exciting events taking place and some really interesting online discussions. However, it makes me a little sad that we have to have a week to celebrate
I was going to write about the effects of snow on house moves, but as the snow has now disappeared, I will follow on from last week’s Ten Commandments. My first commandment to the client
So what would be your 10 Commandments of conveyancing? Here are mine… 1. Thou shall not select your conveyancer on price alone This is a tricky area. I had a client call me this week
Conveyancers all have that one irritating thing that happens far too often. It may not be the same thing for all of us – it may even be something where others ask, “is that it?”
I was going to write about the different types of names, titles, and job descriptions given to those who practise conveyancing – this week I have collated a list which ranges from conveyancing executive to
I read an interesting post on LinkedIn this week on the topic of whether we, as lawyers, should still address letters “Dear Sirs”. It is an interesting topic – there are times I write to
So, Michael Gove made a statement last week to say that he was going to abolish leasehold. To be precise, he said: “I don’t believe leasehold is fair in any way. It is an outdated
I had far fewer emails each day this week than I have had for ages. Is this a good thing? I did not have to work on Saturday which, when I thought about it, led
I have been thinking this week about how specialised conveyancing has become and how we need to know so much about such a large area of practice. It reminded me of a transaction I had