Solicitor

The weeks dragged on. The vendor’s agent was getting pushy wanting our solicitor’s contact details. They wanted the contract signed.  I selected the first solicitor that seemed okay. What can you tell from an ad? Nothing at all. I went to the allhomes website which listed a heap of solicitors, and selected one from the range that was advertised.

The allhomes website advertised solicitors specialising in conveyancing. I had no preferences and selected the first one that caught my eye. No preferences, that is, other than avoiding one at Belconnen that stuffed up part of my finances on the last property I purchased. Don't get it wrong; I'm not a big league property dealer. I own a house where I live, and this new venture was something completely new for me. Anyway, after my last experience when buying my current home there was no way I was going to use that company again.

The company I had used back then was recommended by the real estate agent that I bought my Canberra house from. Perhaps that was the lesson: never trust a real estate agent. I had used William Heague at Belconnen. You would think a few solicitors or their reps meeting with a few banking people to swap a few cheques, sign a few documents, and pass some house keys across the table would be the formula for a simple exercise. The person Heague sent goofed. The settlement went okay, but they had organised a very large cheque to be made out to me, which should have gone into my account. The consequence was that I was paying interest on the loan for this huge cheque that should have been earning me interest.

Anyway, an email to the first company on the list brought a detailed response of their fees in very quick time and I was able to advise the real estate agent of their contact details. That kept the agent quiet for a time. Of course, at that point in time I had no finance approved from a lender. My application for a loan was in the mail, and so far I’d heard nothing one way or the other.

Here I was putting in an offer for a property, organising a solicitor, and as yet had no money. I wasn’t too worried, but I would rather the agent wasn’t pressing me so much. I emailed the solicitor’s contact information to the agent hoping to keep them off my back. I guess I was living in hope! Hope that my finance application would be approved.