Harry Hill, founder of the online conveyancing service In-Deed, has commented that an overwhelming majority of conveyancers are probably running at a loss.
The comment was in response to an article written by Victor Olowe, Managing Director of Winzest Consulting, whose article discussed the perceived failure of In-Deed. In the article, Olowe, attributes In-Deed with unveiling the key factors required to gain a competitive advantage and be successful in the current conveyancing market. Olowe writes “To succeed in this market, you must be prepared to pay whatever the ‘distributors/introducers’ of work demand in order to gain access to consumers.”
In Harry Hill’s response he shares his thoughts on how the ‘major B-B introducers’ and their 50% plus introductory fees caused the downward turn for In-Deed. He believes their overt control on dictating to whom, and at what price, searches are acquired are heavily influencing the way in which the conveyancing market functions.
Hill’s comment states, “The consequence is that many (I suspect the overwhelming majority) of volume conveyancing providers are at best breaking even, and many losing money with in some cases partners actually injecting their own money, or borrowing against personal guarantees to keep doors open.
"I could see no shareholder value in continuing to play in such a dysfunctional market, and have moved on."
This ultimately asks the question of ‘Do most conveyancers feel that they are challenged by profitability?’
