Property Searches Direct was born in 2019 out of a genuine desire to do something unique and truly groundbreaking in the Legal sector. We unashamedly aim to be a disruptor in the industry to ultimately improve transactional speeds that have dogged the UK property market for decades. We are not a Search Company in the traditional sense and do not want to simply provide Searches to conveyancers, but to innovate and continue to improve our offering.
We are the first and only Search firm in the UK to sell Property Searches to the general public via an online shop.
We are the first and only Search firm in the UK to make Search Alert data free for all to use via our innovative ‘Hazard Checker’ service.
We are the first & only Search firm to make Legal Protocol forms freely available to download.
We are passionate about 'Getting Legally Prepared' - conveyancing shouldn't be a dark art!
The current process of moving home in the UK is generally accepted as 'not fit for purpose' it is time consuming, stressful and costly with an unacceptable ongoing fall through rate of around 30%. With Local authorities under severe pressure from COVID and a growing property boom fuelled by a rush to take advantage of the Stamp Duty ‘holiday’, flaws in the house moving process are being exacerbated. In an article in 'The Sunday Times' The Conveyancing Association said that 'properties need to go on the market by the 25th of September to complete by the Stamp Duty deadline' A sad indictment on the current status quo in our opinion.
If you know a car crash is going to happen but can't prevent it you can, at least, take positive steps to mitigate its full impact.
Whilst it is generally accepted that there is no 'silver bullet' there are practical changes, both big and small, that will make a huge difference. We believe fundamentally that Estate Agents hold the key to drive change but are under no illusion that changing age old behaviours is not going to be easy! Coining the phrase 'Collaborative Conveyancing' Property Searches Direct believe that stakeholders need to work together using all of the resources that are available today to effect better outcomes.
We recommend buyers and sellers visit our Hazard Checker - here they can discover what Search alerts exist for their postcode and order the appropriate Searches to cover the risk. If a Seller commissions the Searches as the property goes up for sale they will be initiated straight away and may be completed before a sale is even agreed. When a buyer is found they buy the same pack from our shop and we refund the seller 100% of the cost! Searches ordered at the very beginning of the transaction will dramatically reduce the chance of the sale falling through because they will be returned much sooner in the transaction. A conveyancer will typically order them weeks if not months later, often after a mortgage offer is received!
We can provide free bespoke marketing materials to Estate Agents that want to work with us. Including branded point of sale materials and a personalised landing page to our website. We believe these measures elevate partner agents to a new and higher level of property professional providing a real point of differentiation to win more instructions and ultimately make more sales.
Property Searches Direct have quickly gained notoriety within both the Legal & Estate Agency press and wider community and are looking at some exciting integration possibilities with major industry stakeholders.
We feel that there is a substantial and growing appetite for change and that the perfect storm that was SDLT, COVID and the knock on effects of furloughing staff and working from home (WFH) has fundamentally changed the way we look at everything. It remains to be seen what High Streets and office blocks will look like in another 5 years, but it is a given that there will always be huge demand for good properties at sensible prices.
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