How to find a good solicitor
One of your key partners to ensure a successful property investment venture is your solicitor. It is very important to find a good solicitor to be part of your team of advisors. By this, I mean a solicitor, legal or conveyance firm which has extensive experience in reviewing sale contracts pertaining to real estate and not a friend who happens to be a solicitor.
For my property investments in Australia, I choose Aequitas VTS Lawyers , a Sydney-based legal firm which specialises, among other things, in retail lease and contracts and similar conveyance work because the people behind this firm has the relevant experience and expertise to consider all aspects of a sale contract or lease.
My key considerations for a good solicitor:
- Relevant expertise and experience – One can usually peruse a solicitor’s website and be able to ascertain the depth of their work by examining the profile and background of the people. Referral by other clients, past testimonials and word-of-mouth is also a useful gauge in ascertaining the depth of experience of your solicitor.
- Service and responsiveness - A good solicitor pays attention to the fine details by carefully perusing all the pertinent terms and conditions of a contract or lease to ensure that your interests are adequately protected. He / she will give you timely advice in order to assist you to make key decisions throughout the process of acquiring or disposing your investment property. A key test of service and responsiveness is in the event there are disputes or disagreement to certain terms and conditions. A good solicitor must be able to propose alternatives or devise possible solutions to problems and not just give you the black and white letters of the law and leave you to agonise over the workability or business side of the deal.
- Negotiation skills – Apart from the legal aspect of a contract or lease, a good solicitor must also be able to appreciate the commercial / business side of the transaction in order to negotiate on your behalf as and when necessary. In an impasse, a good solicitor can save you thousands of dollars when both parties of a contract are able to resolve a point of dispute or misunderstanding by proposing a win-win situation or a negotiated settlement which is amicable to both parties.
- Price competitiveness – The fees of solicitors are bound by legislation and your solicitor has a duty to charge a reasonable fee in accordance to the type and level of work performed. The fees for perusing or drafting a standard retail lease or sale contract may vary from one firm to another depending on many criteria, some of which are above.
As a general rule, I NEVER use a solicitor / conveyance firm recommended to me by the developer of the project or property I am buying into. The recommendation by developers can be very tempting to some purchasers because fees can be considerably cheaper. However, I believe objectivity and impartiality may be compromised if the solicitor and developer have an arrangement of referring work to each other.
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