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You will need to use a solicitor to carry out all the legal work involved with buying and selling a property. This work is called conveyancing, and you will need to make sure that your solicitor has experience in this kind of work. Most lenders will use your solicitor if you appoint a firm with two or more partners. You can also use a licensed Conveyancer.

Ask friends and colleagues who have bought property who they used and whether they were satisfied. Using a good solicitor can speed up the process and make it less painful - a less professional one can make the process even more stressful when letters and phonecalls are not promptly returned.

Ask for a written quote before any work is done and find out whether it is a fixed-price quote or dependent on what turns up during the process. Make sure you know exactly what the quote covers.

The conveyancing process

There is quite a bit of work involved in buying or selling a home and it will probably take longer than you think. It is very important that the work is all carried out correctly, however, so don't be tempted to try and rush things.

Your solicitor will be doing the following:

- Obtaining the Deed of the property - that is the document that proves it legally belongs to its owner.
- Sending out a Property Information form to the client - this has information about things like where the properties boundaries are - and a Fixtures, Fittings and Contents form - this is a list of what comes with the property when you buy it, such as carpets or a dishwasher.
- Checking things like whether there are any rights of way through the property and that there are no land disputes.
- If you are buying a flat then the solicitor will need to check the lease to ensure that there are no problems. The solictor should also check the accounts of the management company over the last three years.
- Preparing a draft contract for the sale and sending this with other papers to the buyer's solicitor. The contract is an important legal document that sets out the terms of the sale process.
- Carrying out a local Search, to find out if there are things like building developments planned nearby which will affect the property or possibly the value of the property. Also it should reveal who owns or is repsonsible for the roads or sewers. Some local authorities can return the search in a few days while others can take up to a couple of months.