DIY Sale Of Site

eirman

I'm seeking advice for someone selling a site. (it's about one acre in Ulster (ROI))
He wants to do as much as possible, of donkey work himself.

I presume he can place a advert on DAFT and do that end himself.

How much of the legal work can be done without employing a solicitor?

Mr. Incognito

Oh Dear God.

Well he can do 100% of the work himself.

Then he can pay ten times what it would have cost to pay a solicitor in the first place to pay another solicitor to fix the balls of it he makes by doing the work himself.

Never DIY Legals.

Ever.

eirman

Thanks Mr. Incognito, but that wasn't really helpful.

Surely he can do something(s) himself in advance of employing a solicitor, to get a good deal.

I know you do need a solicitor to check and finalise everything.

brian_t

If you ask your solicitor what parts can you do yourself - are they likely to facilitate you ?

FreudianSlippers

In fairness, I'd imagine there is more time, effort and costs for a solicitor in a property transaction to review "legals" done by a non-lawyer than there would be in just doing the work in the first place.

Pat Mustard

eirman wrote: »

How much of the legal work can be done without employing a solicitor?

If the purchaser is handing over a substantial amount of purchase money, he is likely to retain a solicitor to raise queries, look for certain replies/documentation and otherwise protect the interests of the purchaser.

Realistically, a non-solicitor will not be able to deal with these matters. Therefore, the non-solicitor will not be able to carry out the relevant legal work and the solicitor for the purchaser would refuse to engage with him because of the risks involved. Therefore, it is not likely that the transaction could proceed until the vendor retains his own solicitor.

Mr. Incognito

eirman wrote: »

Thanks Mr. Incognito, but that wasn't really helpful.

Surely he can do something(s) himself in advance of employing a solicitor, to get a good deal.

I know you do need a solicitor to check and finalise everything.

No he can't.

Conveyancing Solicitors are experts and trained to look out for

- Defects on Title
- Negotiating issues on title
- Boundary issues
-Charges, Easements, Burdens

They also draft the documents, make sure of the security, get arcitects to provide boundaries, clarify insurance, carry out legal searches, and also ensure that the banking of the transaction is arranged.

Selling property is full of risk. A solicitor will only deal with a solicitor because he knows that the other person will be in a position to deal with these queries and most issues are sorted out quickly.

A DIY layperson would not

1. Understand the issues
2. Be in a position to deal with them.

They would also pay much much much more for a solicitors time to "fix" the mistakes which they would have to find, re-do the documents correctly.

On the off chance there was a huge glaring defect in title the vendor might think fantastic and take the layperson for a ride.

Why you think that there is a saving to be made in being an idiot is beyond me.

TLDR; Costs more. Stupid Idea.

hullaballoo

I need heart surgery and I'm planning to open my chest cavity myself with a circular saw to save money on expensive surgeons.

NUTLEY BOY

It is a false economy to think of doing something like this on a DIY basis.

Ironically, the DIY vendor will actually create more work for the solicitor who is eventually retained to check over what has been done because the solicitor will need to review and satisfy themselves about the veracity of the DIY elements too.

No solicitor in their sane senses will actually take instructions to just check over what has been done by a DIY putative vendor. See it from the solicitor's perspective. If matters go awry because of the DIY element can the solicitor stand over the work that they - the solicitor - did in handling the transaction ? Probably not and that may lead to a professional negligence case too.

Also, see it from a purchaser's perspective. Would their solicitor advise the purchaser to close a sale if the title looks defective ? No.

If there is a concern about value for money, shop around. Proper and sound advice for something like this is really important.

nuac

You can get legal precedents for practically everything online nowadays.

Use of such is often a fertile source of litigation, later. for real lawyers

Peregrinus

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

In fairness, I'd imagine there is more time, effort and costs for a solicitor in a property transaction to review "legals" done by a non-lawyer than there would be in just doing the work in the first place.

This.

When I was in private practice, if offered the task of reviewing my client's conveyancing I would almost certainly have declined the instructions. If I had accepted, it would have been on the basis that I would charge an hourly rate, not a scale fee, and I am 100% confident that the bill on the hourly rate would end up being much, much higher than if I had done the conveyancing myself, and charged the scale fee.

It takes much more time and effort to review and correct work done by somebody unqualified and inexperienced that it does just to do the work yourself in the first place.

This is not a cost-saving strategy for the client. It's a money-wasting strategy.

eirman

Thanks everyone ..... all advice was taken on board.

Following some non-boards.ie advice, I am recommending he gets a FIXED price (Not %) from a couple of solicitors
and to make sure he has his documentation fully together an organised.