New post-HIP product offers exchange-ready package

Why oh why do these wonderful companies with all these wonderful ideas still lie about how long a local authority takes to issue search results my local authority return all search results electronically within 2 to 3 hours and are very low in price. Take a reality check and stop slandering other people just to push your own product!!!!

• 12 November 2010 15:10 PM

…….erm,

Brian are you the one that started all that girls toilet thing a while back, the school boy / little Jonnie theme sounds like a post previously.

If it was you then you were really funny and raised some excellent issues on the subject and it would be great to hear some of that stuff again today

Jonnie

• 05 November 2010 12:17 PM

Little Jionnie should you not be at school! I wonder what failed business you run.....?????? Just once see if you can post a grown up paragraph..... Read other that add value here eg PeeBee, Ray of Sherringham etc

• 05 November 2010 11:51 AM

Myra,

What they do is great – they get the solicitor you have used happily for years, bung a cut for them selves on, add a bit for you, possibly get your solicitor to mess about with some IT and you end up with them selling the service of your own contact at a higher price than before.

Its really good for your clients and your solicitor will love it, they definitely wont drag their heels getting it set up / talk to you about leaving it as it is or refuse and your vendors get this brill ‘new thing’ they didn’t even know they needed.

The other thing is you don’t need to mess around with the legal quotes having to list what you’re taking out of it, vendors really love this as well and it never creates difficult conversations when they realise that on top of your fee of £XX you are helping your self to another hundred odd quid on their legals.

It’s a bit like that excellent outfit movewithus but without the hollow promise / remote possibility of getting some repo and PX work

Utter genius, everyone should sign up

Jonnie

• 05 November 2010 11:19 AM

Hi Myra

Clear doesn't set the referral fee, you do. You agree with your solicitors, who you invite onto your panel, what legal fee they will charge. You add your commission to the legal fee and that is what your client is quoted. You set up these prices and commissions once on the Clear system and can change them whenever you like. Included within the solicitor's legal fee is the fee that Clear charges the solicitors for the pre-packaging work.

• 04 November 2010 13:06 PM

Ed - I may have missed this, but what referral fee do we get as agents for giving you the work?

• 04 November 2010 12:05 PM

Thanks Ed, I will piece together all you have said and may well be in touch again via this forum, or direct. DA

• 04 November 2010 10:52 AM

Hi Devils Advocate

Thanks for your positive comments and interest in Clear.

Clear obtains personal searches, as a commercially viable model relies on fixed pricing. One of the best legacies of HIPs is that solicitors’ culture has changed and they are more accepting of personal searches and searches that are provided by 3rd parties at the point of marketing.
You’re right; there are 2 sets of lawyers for a seller. Clear lawyers provide the standard required for the model to work with a multitude of lawyers across the country. This way lawyers will get to know and can rely on a fixed standard of pre-packaging to help expedite their work and the buyer’s solicitor’s work.
During the pilot that we ran for 8 months, I analysed the solicitors’ case management software stats which showed an AVERAGE time saving of 60% through Clear. This means that when the solicitors pay Clear for pre-packaging files they make more profit per min than in the old system due to the extra efficiency of the process – this is without any increases in fees to the client.
I don’t pretend that all solicitors will accept change but now is the best time for a new model to succeed. The Legal Services Reform Act comes into force in 2011 which gives the green light to Tesco Law et al... Solicitors are terrified of this looming and need to strengthen their relationships with sources of referral work ASAP. In addition, the estate agent is at the heart of our model as they benefit from quicker, less uncertain transactions that get to exchange as soon as the buyer is able. As such, agents will want to give their referrals to solicitors who are working with this system and those solicitors who are resistant will lose out. I know some well respected solicitors who I have worked with for years, and have worked with on Clear, who would love to be introduced to estate agents that don’t have relationships with proactive solicitors.
Agents can contact Clear on 0845 643 6164 or see www.clear-ltd.co.uk . We have also agreed integration with several of the biggest estate agency software companies so Clear will be available to a large proportion of the agency market via integration – the first of which will be announced and released in the next 2 weeks.
Finally, there is NO cost to agents for this service. We charge solicitors whose fees are pre agreed by the agent that has invited them onto their legal panel so the agent controls the price to consumers. I hope this covers all the points. Best regards Ed

• 04 November 2010 09:55 AM

Thanks for that Ed, you obviously know your stuff but a few more questions please: 1. The search issue will also depend on what type of search is obtained by Clear, official or personal? 2. It looks like two sets of lawyers will be involved on the sale, Clears' and the sellers' own, how will that affect the ultimate conveyancing cost? 3. Depending on your reply to the previous question, will sellers' solicitors accept the previously obtained data (I note you are, sensibly, avoiding the word 'pack')!, they didn't always with Hips? 4. How does anyone interested make contact with you or Clear? 5. Cost?

• 03 November 2010 18:34 PM

Hi Rebel, Jonnie, Jarvis, Burf, Devils Advocate and Brian...

I'll try to cover off as many of the points you have raised as possible - sorry if it's a bit lengthy.

Firstly, my background. I setup a panel managing company called Conveyancing Network in 2002 and then a law firm in 2006. I have been working with estate agents and solicitors for years and witnessed, as you all did, the farce that was HIPs. Over many months I have analysed the legal workflows that solicitors follow through the various conveyancing transaction types and applied commercial process based principles - consulting with well respected independent estate agents and law firms throughout. Conveyancing is just a data collection and due diligence process which is governed by a set of rules be they from mortgage lenders, the Law Society etc. By working to an 80/20 rule where we aim to improve 80% of transactions, because you will always get difficult transactions, we can use these rules and online technology to pre-package much if not all the data required to get to exchange. Agents invite their favourite solicitors onto their branch panels (in the Clear software) and between them determine fees, commission etc with no panel manager intervention. Clear helps this by providing the estate agent with management data on how their solicitors are performing to assist them make the best decision in terms of which of their panel solicitors to refer work to. Mortgage companies stipulate whether they will indemnify against searches that are less than a certain age and their requirements are presented in the CML handbook, but it is the solicitors who decide whether they will accept liability for searches over a certain date. Most commonly solicitors work to a 6 month rule and thereafter use search indemnity insurance to protect themselves in respect of a claim. In terms of second guessing buyers questions, solicitors are generally happy to accept answers to a set of well researched questions provided by an experienced solicitor. Clear provides the data and uses experienced lawyers to qualify and, where necessary, request further data that might be requested by a buyer's solicitor. Once Clear has finished this pre-packaging and qualifying, the file is passed to the seller's solicitor (the one on the agent's panel) for sign off. If there is anything missing, the solicitor can return the file to Clear to obtain the missing data. This is the ONLY way to ensure that 80% of buyer's solicitors will be happy to accept a pre-packaged file when they view it. Those that don't will need further investigation owing to the querky nature of the property but Clear will still have made this easier by providing all the other data sets which have been qualified by experienced lawyers.
This system really works. The least you can expect is a replacement for expensive panel manager companies whose contribution to the industry has to be questioned, but at best this will speed through your pipeline like no other change to the system has done before. I know there will be sceptics but I hope the above gives a flavour of the depth of thought and application that we have gone to get Clear to the point where we believe we are launching a revolutionary product.

• 03 November 2010 17:00 PM

Sounds like the HIP pack to be honest. Personally, i think the HIP was great. I sold my property with a HIP in place from the first day of marketing. Only needed the solicitor for the finacial side of things, so HIP made selling my house cheaper and quicker. Its a good idea, but it sounds too much like the HIP and look what happened to that. lol

• 03 November 2010 16:55 PM

Thank God you explained that Jonnie. Was just about to book myself in for full time care!

• 03 November 2010 16:37 PM

Oops,

For anyone that can still be bothered to read what I post – the one below is on the wrong article – should be on the ‘Zombie Borrowers’ one

I appear to be talking more rubbish than normal

Jonnie

• 03 November 2010 16:17 PM

Not sure this bloke is right on this,

We have all seen / know people in this position, easy to spot, they didn’t sell up when their salary crashed 2 / 3 years ago, that would be loss of face with the neighbours., they often have a big 4X4 on finance on the drive with bald tyres, and are normally found on modern estates in a big 4 bedder.

The thing is these guys are hanging on by their finger nails and supported by low interest rates but a lot of them wont get caught out as a large amount of the salary that they got the mortgage on is based on bonuses / commission.

Whilst they are living on their basic salaries now they will start to get back to earning ‘proper money’ right at the point the rates go up.

Obviously if you’re on a fixed wage and always have been you’re in trouble so ignore the bit above and sell up.

Jonnie

• 03 November 2010 16:14 PM

If the national average is that properties takes 4 months to sell at the mo, then searches will be out of date & lenders will not accept them.

• 03 November 2010 14:56 PM

Nice idea,

Well it might be, I think it may not pass the ‘Sofa Test’ – this is something ive just made up in fairness but picture the scene.

You sat in a potential clients living room valuing a property, you’re one of 3 or 4 that’s been in, you are battling with the 1% lad, the higher valuation and the ‘we’ve got more offices / advertising / boards / ENTER WHAT YOU WANT HERE lot………………

……………any way its going okay and you are just about to get a signed agreement when you realise its time to bring up the dreaded conveyancing thing (most of you will have already avoided the FS question)

This is where it all goes a bit wobbly – You see parts of the industry (RICS) like the idea but the vendor wont get it as quick / if at all and they certainly wont like the ‘warehouse’ conveyancing or the price, this will mean your negs wont be all that keen either so you wont sell much as you don’t want to risk sales just because a volume conveyancer is lobbing you a few quid.

So Clear Group, good luck, you might get a few agents (partners / directors) to sign up but it’s not a flyer – don’t answer questions the PUBLIC isn’t asking.

Can I invoice you now for saving you a load of agro?

Jonnie

• 03 November 2010 14:36 PM

There were exchange ready HIPs and they did not give anyone a USP either.

• 03 November 2010 13:43 PM

I agree and was going to raise the same quiestion! Ed can you give us more details?

• 03 November 2010 13:41 PM

New ideas need looking at and considering, not being dismissed out of hand. I can see it would give any agent using it a marketing USP. Much needed in current conditions. A few questions if I may: 1. Where do we go to find out more? 2. How much does it cost? 3. Won’t most searches be too old for the purchasers’ solicitor to rely on? 4. What is you background Ed and you say “We”. Who are you all, that is not Clear!

• 03 November 2010 13:23 PM

Why not produce a pack with all the needed documents in, oh that was HIPs and that failed too. Now if you had thought up a business model like rightmove peolple would be interested!

• 03 November 2010 13:18 PM

Hi Larry

This is precisely why Clear has been created. Clear orders searches, not the seller, and passes the cost onto buyers since the buyer will will need to buy searches in any case.
Clear covers off the vast majority of enquiries up front and has been doing so for the past 8 months successfully.
Good solicitors do not raise these enquiries before a buyer is found as they do not check title, obtain searches and obtain comprehensive enquiries because there isn't a protocol platform for solicitors to work to. There will always be oddball transactions that cannot be effectively pre-packaged but Clear has been designed to improve 80% of thoise transactions that can be.
Clear Conveyancing is COMPLETELY different to anything tried before - I would be more than happy to show you the lengths we have gone to to produce a system that will become widely recognised as dramatically improving the current one.

• 03 November 2010 11:53 AM

The average search turnaround is 14 days.

Asking vendors to order searches at the point of marketing is an unwelcome barrier. Given that c 30% of transactions fail, who is going to pick up the cost of the searches ordered? An unsustainable model?

Finally, we all know that a seller's solicitor cannot do all of the legal work upfront as they have no idea what enquiries the buyer's solicitor will raise. They can prepare in advance, but all good solicitors do that anyway.

• 03 November 2010 10:02 AM