Buying a home is rarely a speedy process. Tackling that issue is one of our biggest ambitions at eConveyancer, and is driving the investment we are making into various forms of technology which can digitise the process and help sales more quickly.

This ambition has only been heightened over recent weeks, with industry reports making it clear just how challenging the market is at the moment when it comes to getting deals over the line.

For example, data from homebuying business HBB Solutions has suggested traditional sales are taking 248 days to go through. That’s a whopping three weeks longer than pre-pandemic levels.

It’s certainly not the only study which has pointed to the lengthy process homebuyers and sellers are having to contend with. The message is pretty clear – those looking to buy and sell a home are having to put up with a process that’s already notorious for being lengthy, but which is currently even more protracted than usual.

The danger of a sale dragging on
It goes without saying that this is far too long for any buyer or seller to have to put their life on hold. Buying and selling a home is regularly cited as one of the most stressful experiences any of us go through, and with good reason. A protracted sale is only going to heighten those stress levels, particularly when you consider the added risks that come from deals taking so long.

In some cases, buyers will start to get itchy feet, and begin to look elsewhere. The whole deal could collapse because of these delays, leaving the client out of pocket. Because of these dangers, eConveyancer have partnered with Surewise to provide clients with protection, delivering payouts to cover those lost legal and valuation costs up to as much as £2,250.

Even if the deal doesn’t collapse, delays could result in mortgage offers being withdrawn, with borrowers having to find new funding. Given the way that mortgage rates are moving at the moment, if a deal drags on it could lumber the buyer with a much more costly mortgage.

There’s also the simple fact that intermediaries want to deliver a good service to their clients. Obviously, the more smoothly a deal goes through, the more likely the client is to return to them for their needs in future. Yet beyond that, the vast majority of intermediaries care deeply about their clients and want to help them achieve the purchase they are so desperate for. It’s a disheartening experience for everyone involved if things drag on interminably.

Keeping it consistent
It’s absolutely true that some of these delays lay at the feet of legal firms. The heightened demand and activity we’ve seen over the last few years has not really let up in any meaningful way, and some firms are simply not set up properly to deal with that.

That isn’t the case across the board, however, which is why at eConveyancer, we try to do things differently. We hold a weekly pipeline review of cases to ensure that not only the required level of service is being maintained, but also that intermediary partners and their clients are enjoying a consistent level of service.

Where things are starting to slip, we are then perfectly positioned to act, ensuring that no client is stuck in an unnecessary delay.

It’s not all that different from mortgage clubs. Intermediaries know that because of the buying power of a mortgage club, the individual intermediary can benefit from access to excellent deals and service which might not be available to them were they to deal with the lender directly.

It’s much the same with a quality panel manager. The volumes that eConveyancer transacts with these top legal firms gives us – and most importantly our intermediary partners – a buying power that would not usually be possible with a high street conveyancer.

Delivering for clients
An awful lot of the homebuying process is out of the hands of a mortgage intermediary, yet they can influence how smoothly a transaction is likely to be.

Partnering with the right businesses, firms that you can trust to deliver the funds on time or deliver the required legal side swiftly, will make a big difference to the experience of your clients.

Karen Rodrigues is sales director at eConveyancer