An online conveyancing system has been launched that enables small and medium-size agents to offer their own in-house branded service and take on the corporates.
Ben Ridgway and Jamie Cooke (pictured, below) whose company Intelligent Services Group also owns IAMSold, has launched The Conveyancing Partnership (TCP), a free service for agents.
TCP works by prompting vendors to start the initial stages of the conveyancing process prior to an offer being made and is claimed to improve relations between agents and solicitors, and speed up conveyancing by up to seven days, one agent trialling the system claims.
TCP acts as a way to persuade vendors to use the agent’s own solicitors, and then enables agents to offers their own branded ‘in-house’ conveyancing service to progress the sale.
If the customers then go on to use TCP’s no-sale, no fee service run through a panel of local solicitors picked by the agent, then branches can expect referral fees of between £100 and £225 per case, TCP says.
At the beginning of the process vendors are asked to fill in a Law Society-approved online questionnaire which prompts them for the details they would normally only provide once the conveyancing process start. This includes the detailed property information and fixtures and fittings forms, which vendors then sign-off digitally online.
Once an offer is made on the property, the information is then turned into an agent-branded weblink that is sent to the buyer and their solicitor.
Faster conveyancing
TCP claims that this will help buyers make a more informed decision about a property at the offer stage, and will also enable draft contracts to be issued within 24 hours, not days.
It is also claimed that the TCP system will speed up the conveyancing process because it offers the agent a ‘green light’ panel that highlights sticking points earlier than normal.
TCP has been in development for over a year including several trials with agents in the field. This has included six-branch sales and letting agent DDM Residential based in and around Grimsby.
“I have always thought conveyancing could be done in a more structured and sympathetic way, so we were pleased to get involved with TCP from the start,” says Managing Director Graham Wilson (pictured) who is also a shareholder in IAMSold.
“With the TCP property reports, the preparation work is done at the beginning of the selling process and this has reduced the conveyancing procedure by seven days.
“Not only that, but the structure and upfront reports have improved our relationship with solicitors and they have found it equally more efficient. TCP has been formed to bring the solicitor and estate agent relationships closer together, and it’s certainly achieved that. In addition, our valuers are finding the compliance micro sites help as a USP when pitching for new instructions.”
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