Lawyer specifically for house purchase?

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Talkiet

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#156019 16-Nov-2014 19:21

Hi there - interested to know if anyone has recommendations for lawyers (or legal services) related to a straightforward house purchase... There are some specialists that do this day in and day out and have boilerplate approaches which hopefully reflect in their simplicity and price.

I'm looking at buying. Conditions will include at least LIM, builders report, code compliance certificate at least and finance.

I received a letter a year or so ago advising me that my current lawyer (well, the one I used to buy my current home) had been struck off - and I have no other lawyerly needs.

BTW I'm in Chch but house I'm looking at is in Wgtn.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Dratsab

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#1176983 16-Nov-2014 20:03

Peter Brinsley is really good. No bs, no fluffing around, very reasonable fees.

Geektastic

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#1177044 16-Nov-2014 22:00

We use Gault Mitchell in Wellington. Very good lawyers.

jamesrt

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#1177054 16-Nov-2014 22:35

Dratsab: Peter Brinsley is really good.

Disagree, unfortunately.

mattwnz

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#1177060 16-Nov-2014 22:43

I would suggest ringing about, as prices may vary a lot.

Talkiet

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#1177067 16-Nov-2014 22:47

In the context of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, I don't care to economise and look for the cheapest conveyancing option - perhaps my original post gave that impression. I'm after someone that can handle it with the least of hassles and not charge a mint.

I'd like to outline my conditions for purchase, have the lawyer convert those into legal-speak for me, and handle the mechanics of the affair.

After some searching it seems there are a number of conveyancing specific services around - I guess this is a little like Xbox vs Playstation; more a religious battle than objective fact based evaluations. Probably a stupid question to ask.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Aredwood

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#1177078 17-Nov-2014 00:25

Home transfer centre. Used them myself for house purchase. Based in Auckland but AFAIK can handle transactions anywhere in the country.

jnimmo

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#1177091 17-Nov-2014 06:30

We are using Kannangara Thompson, who immediately answered my call and we're looking through the documents already while I was on the phone. I forget what they quoted for conveyancing but they haven't charged for any presale work

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Geektastic

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#1177115 17-Nov-2014 08:18

mattwnz: I would suggest ringing about, as prices may vary a lot.

Also remember that as with many things, price is not everything when assessing value...

Geektastic

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#1177117 17-Nov-2014 08:20

Talkiet: In the context of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, I don't care to economise and look for the cheapest conveyancing option - perhaps my original post gave that impression. I'm after someone that can handle it with the least of hassles and not charge a mint.

I'd like to outline my conditions for purchase, have the lawyer convert those into legal-speak for me, and handle the mechanics of the affair.

After some searching it seems there are a number of conveyancing specific services around - I guess this is a little like Xbox vs Playstation; more a religious battle than objective fact based evaluations. Probably a stupid question to ask.

Cheers - N

We were quoted around $1200 for the work on our (hopefully!) forthcoming move.

Compared to the $38,000 the agent wants to charge for selling our house, I regard the legal bill as almost free.

jnimmo

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#1177118 17-Nov-2014 08:21

Hm, not letting me edit my post, but I forgot to say Kannagara Thompson are in Christchurch

mdf

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#1177136 17-Nov-2014 08:55

In Wellington, I use Michael Chung Law (with the awesome URL of mclaw.co.nz). Handled previous conveyancing I've sent their way - also really good with related stuff like wills and trusts. If you've ever considered a family trust, it pays to think about this all at once - no point in paying two conveyancing fees (seller --> you, you --> trust).

xpd

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#1177149 17-Nov-2014 09:23

We used Home Transfer Center 3.5 yrs ago, they got the job done but not without a hassle on the final day - for some reason the sellers lawyer had our money, yet HTC said it hadnt been processed and that we were not allowed to get the key. I called the vendor directly and they said "yup, we're happy, our lawyer is happy, go for it" so I went and got the key. Shortly afterwards HTC called to say it had "just gone through 2 mins ago" - yet I had picked the key 20mins earlier...... so a process stuff up or just a lazy HTC rep, I don't know.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Talkiet

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#1177154 17-Nov-2014 09:30

Geektastic:
Talkiet: In the context of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, I don't care to economise and look for the cheapest conveyancing option - perhaps my original post gave that impression. I'm after someone that can handle it with the least of hassles and not charge a mint.

I'd like to outline my conditions for purchase, have the lawyer convert those into legal-speak for me, and handle the mechanics of the affair.

After some searching it seems there are a number of conveyancing specific services around - I guess this is a little like Xbox vs Playstation; more a religious battle than objective fact based evaluations. Probably a stupid question to ask.

Cheers - N

We were quoted around $1200 for the work on our (hopefully!) forthcoming move.

Compared to the $38,000 the agent wants to charge for selling our house, I regard the legal bill as almost free.

Yep, but should this all happen as planned (many things to fall into place first) I'll not be selling a house to fund this purchase - so I don't have the ghastly agent commission to put things like legal fees into laughable context :-)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Geektastic

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#1177164 17-Nov-2014 09:42

Talkiet:
Geektastic:
Talkiet: In the context of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, I don't care to economise and look for the cheapest conveyancing option - perhaps my original post gave that impression. I'm after someone that can handle it with the least of hassles and not charge a mint.

I'd like to outline my conditions for purchase, have the lawyer convert those into legal-speak for me, and handle the mechanics of the affair.

After some searching it seems there are a number of conveyancing specific services around - I guess this is a little like Xbox vs Playstation; more a religious battle than objective fact based evaluations. Probably a stupid question to ask.

Cheers - N

We were quoted around $1200 for the work on our (hopefully!) forthcoming move.

Compared to the $38,000 the agent wants to charge for selling our house, I regard the legal bill as almost free.

Yep, but should this all happen as planned (many things to fall into place first) I'll not be selling a house to fund this purchase - so I don't have the ghastly agent commission to put things like legal fees into laughable context :-)

Cheers - N

Lawyer - 5-7 years of university plus professional exams and work experience. $1200

Agent - collect tokens from cornflake packet, pay money to toothless professional body which allows just about anyone in - $38,000