The conveyancing market is becoming increasingly competitive, particularly in these difficult economic times.

Some conveyancing solicitors and firms, to combat this, are actively marketing for new business and the internet is a prime place to advertise. This does though come with its ups and downs. Whilst the vast majority of firms are honest and can give good service and a good price, there are a few things to look out for when obtaining your conveyancing quote.

Most quotes will be broken down into fees, VAT and disbursements. The fees are what the solicitors or licensed conveyancers will actually make from you, the client, for doing the job and this is known as profit costs. Obviously they do have to make money, so this in itself is not unreasonable! The VAT rate obviously set at the current rate and is payable on all of their profit costs. Disbursements are sums of money paid out to a third party on your behalf, for example, Searches, Land Registry fees (the fees payable to register your purchase at the Land Registry) and Stamp Duty.

You should ensure that one of the criteria you use when selecting which online conveyancing quote you want to go ahead with is that you get a full breakdown of their costs and quote and check for any hidden extras. You can ask up front if the quote that you are being given is fully inclusive of everything, and if not, what else is to be added on. Some of the other things that may be extra are transactions that are leasehold or unregistered. These genuinely do require an awful lot more work and the extra fees can be justified, but you can ask this at the outset if you know that the transaction is with of these. A lot of comparative websites such as Quicklegalquotes.co.uk will give you the option at the outset of whether the property is freehold or leasehold and this means that you can instantly obtain an accurate quote.

Another thing to consider when you chose your conveyancing solicitors is who will do the work on your behalf. A lot of firms will give you the contact details of the person who will do your work and their email in order that you can speak directly with them and discuss your case whenever you want. There are a few firms out there though who have a "team mentality" and this means that you will rarely if ever get to speak to your case handler. In these cases you will speak with a team member or telephone member of staff who may have little or no dealings with your case. This is easy to check though at the outset when you are comparing conveyancing fees, just ask who you will be dealing with, ask for their email address, telephone number and if you can speak with them there and then. They will be dealing with one of the biggest purchases or sales you will ever make and it is essential that you get along!