Customer Reviews

House Buying, Selling and Conveyancing

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This guide is written for lay people and will safely take you through a step by step process to buy and/or sell your house without using a solicitor. We have used it on 3 occasions saving both time and money and most important of all - it gives you control of the situation... no more waiting for people to come off the golf course and no more wondering if you are at the bottom of someone's in-tray. Examples of any forms you will need are included in the book, and it is easy to obtain what you need when you need it. The first house we sold was in 1982, using Joseph Bradshaw's original version. We recently obtained an updated copy (Lawpack publishing) and found it to be even easier to use. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Bradshaw's "Buying & Selling (Conveyancing for All)" covers all of the major areas and issues which are involved when buying and selling your own home, with the single objective of minimising the cost of middlemen. To Bradshaw, middlemen include anybody who is neither the buyer nor the seller, including all known lawyers, estate agents and even surveyors.

The book illustrates beautifully that conveyancing is dead simple. There is no need to study rocket science: all that is required is the patience to fill in a few forms. Oh, and the confidence to talk to your vendor/buyer. You have to do these things whether or not you appoint a solicitor. So what are you paying a solicitor for?

With websites, such as ,.., offering "private sale" facilities, it is becoming easier to remove the cost of useless agents and greedy lawyers, to the benefit of anybody involved in conveyancing.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I shall certainly be following it!

(This review is based upon the 1989 edition of the book. The topic will change over time, due to changes in regulation, hence the need to be up to date.)

The book starts off in a blaze of rebellious spirit, convincing the reader to circumvent the use of solicitors in his conveyancing process just by "filling in a few forms". The frenetic pep talk continues for a few more chapters, and it's hard not to be captivated by the author's disdain for the monopoly on conveyancing traditionally enjoyed by the legal profession. The recalcitrance is a cute ideology but the simple truth is that, where mortgages are concerned, the layman will soon come unstuck on a DIY conveyance, as I will explain in this review.

It's only once the reader is deep into the recesses of the chapter on the completion process, more than halfway through the book, when it becomes painfully apparent that you're screwed unless you've got a solicitor acting for you. This is thanks to the inherent protectionism in the system which the author rails against in earlier chapters, but later admits - without even a hint of humble pie - that lay status is a practical barrier for those selling with a mortgage to pay off on their property, or buying with the help of a mortgage (or both).

To put it simply, if you go the DIY route, the lender will charge you roughly the equivalent (in its own legal fees) of what you would have spent on your own solicitor anyway (who would then have worked for your lender for free). And the lender simply won't play ball unless you do the former or the latter.

It's a Catch 22, but it's almost as if the author is in denial about it. For example, a passage meekly tucked away in a bullet-pointed list on Page 145 will leave the reader feeling bewildered and suddenly cheated by the book:

"[Your lender]'s response will also almost certainly include: [...] An account made up of the fees you have to pay its solicitor. [...] This amount would probably be not much less than if the buyer used a solicitor of his own who would act on the lender's behalf for free."

In other words, the whole book is a fool's errand, but this bombshell is inexplicably buried away and flies in the face of everything the author has by now conditioned the reader to believe. It's almost like the disclaimer that he hopes you'll never read - because it brings his own fantasy crashing down - but the publishers insisted he put it in.

There's no doubting the entertainment value of the author's flippant style, but that will come as little comfort to those who buy the book - and faithfully turn its pages - only to find there is little or no financial advantage to be had from following its advice (although, in fairness, there may still be some weight to the author's assertion that the DIYer's efforts may be quicker and of higher quality than those of his "professional" counterpart).

I'm all for "beating the system" and hold no brief for property lawyers. But I fail to see the point of falsely raising the reader's hopes. A clear warning should appear at the beginning (or better still, on the front cover) about the need to use a solicitor whenever money lenders are part of the transaction(s).

However, if you are one of the fortunate few with 100% equity and/or enough savings to buy your next house for cash, you might fancy giving DIY conveyancing a shot with the aid of this book.

From a structural point of view, the procedural compass tends to waver, with a lot of jumping around and bookmarking required of the reader. Frankly, it's a mess. Some kind of flowchart diagram would have helped. There's also a confusing grasp of economics - the author casually suggests spending a few nights in a B&B and keeping your furniture "in the van" if completion of sale and purchase are not simultaneous. By my reckoning, the hire of a 'Luton Box' style van and B&B accommodation would easily cost £150 per extra day, quickly eclipsing the £300-or-so saved on solicitors' fees. Wasn't this book supposed to be about saving money?

I wonder further about the author's grasp on reality when I read sentences like "in the unlikely event that your house is worth under £120,000." Well, it's not at all unlikely if you live in Wales or the North of England, where the average price is below £120,000. (Source: Nov 2011 Land Registry House Price Index).

The chapter on marketing your property without an estate agent won't be the reason that most people bought the book and isn't particularly illuminating anyway; similar advice can be found in numerous other books, magazines and TV shows. You know the kind of thing: a lick of magnolia paint..... (yawn).

The author at some points appears stuck in a different era, suggesting that the seller designs a newspaper advert using "a sheet of Letraset transfers from an artists' shop".

File this one under comedy or fantasy - but not reference.

I have just completed my first purchase with the assistance of this book. It's not the easiest thing to follow, but everything you need to know is in here. Avoid other books pretending to help, I also bought Frances James "The process of conveyancing" and the Alan Stewart "Guide to conveyancing residential property". In both cases the sleeve notes describe the book as a solution for those wishing to DIY conveyancing then open with warnings that the book is not a replacement for solicitors.

The author details with all the essentials of the buying and selling process in a very readable and interesting way; giving good hypothetical situations (Mr Feather, et al.) of a typical purchasing process (and the not so typical).

The only real weakness of this book is in its somewhat idealistic approach with regard to the willingness of solicitors to deal with 'lay persons' and their unwillingness to accept undertakings from them which would normally be given by a solicitor. During the sale of my house, I had to engage a solicitor for the completion stages due to the Law Society sewing up the system so that solicitors aren't obliged to accept the word and undertaking of lay persons. Puts a bit of a spanner in the works - and adds to the cost !

There are plenty of books out there with a basic overview of the house buying process but few with any level of detail. This book has a good level of detail while still being an easy read.

It doesn't cover complex conveyancing but I would not expect expect a consumer book to do so.

Vey clear and precise, easy to understand. Helpful information regarding things to look out for.
Legal tips and advice invaluable

This was recommended for being highly readable for the layperson - and it is. It is also pretty humorous and makes for an entertaining read. Any lightness to the business of house buying and selling is always welcome!

Really wish I had read the reviews before I bought this book. I did my own conveyancing years ago, using the Which book of conveyancing and the Conveyancing Fraud and like another reviewer wanted an update so bought this book. The Author does encourage you with a jokey style, but it isn't a jokey proceedure.When it comes to actually doing your conveyance there is no flow chart to help you (although he does mention on one page "if you have a flow chart keep it by your side") Why then does he not include a simple flow chart in the book with the appropriate number of the form that you need to send and to where and when. It is just too hard to follow and I would not recommend this book. I am waiting receipt of another book on the same subject.

I bought this book with the intentions of doing my own conveyancing.However because the seller had problems with outstanding finances I decided to use a solicitor to cover my back.That said I did read and understand what needed to be done and it was not rocket science. All the forms are down loadable from the internet.The book is written in plain English and points you in all the right directions.It helps you understand what your solicitor is doing and what the various stages are involved in the process of buy a house.I would recommend this even if it was just used for reference.