Utilising the first-time buyer knowledge gap

Take conveyancing, for instance, and judging from some recent research put together on first-time buyers’ understanding, we might be quick to judge that there is certainly some educational work to be done here.

The good news is that advisers do have some positives to impart because it’s clear that such buyers are over-estimating just exactly how much they’re going to need to spend on their solicitor fees. The research revealed that 69% of first-timers believe they need to spend £1,500 on a £250k purchase, despite the average being a lot less than this.

Advisers are often able to deliver real and valuable savings right across the board, but what client wouldn’t be excited by a significant ‘saving’ especially if they’d budgeted for way more. The true cost of conveyancing is dependent on a large number of factors but, for advisers active in the sector, there is clearly a positive message to impart here; and for those not active, then perhaps you might recognise you are missing both a trick and an opportunity by not delivering this kind of ‘good news’ to the client.

The research suggests the average conveyancing fee for a £250k property is £550, however this does not include VAT, disbursements, search and Land Registry fees, and the like, which will probably add another £450 to the overall cost. However, by using Broker Conveyancing, you can actually have this all in for £849, which is the cheapest in the marketplace, and £651 less than first-timers are (on average) expecting to pay.

This is an opportunity that not only works in advisers’ favour when it comes to first-time buyer clients but right across the mortgage borrower spectrum, regardless of what type of mortgage they are seeking to complete. Let’s not forget that the vast majority of clients – certainly residential ones – are unlikely to be beating a path to your door every few months; instead there could be gaps of many years when it comes to adviser contact and therefore their knowledge of the market, its costs and such, is unlikely to be as up to date as it might be.

Again, there tends to be a significant ‘knowledge gap’ not just around the mortgage but also all other additional and related products, such as conveyancing. Ask your client exactly what they paid for conveyancing the last (or first) time they purchased and/or remortgaged, and you’re likely to be met with a blank face, followed by a guesstimate which is probably going to be some way off what they actually paid.

There might well have been some cursory budgeting for ‘legals’ and the like, but if you’re able to provide them with the news of a ‘saving’ – even if it’s just on what they’d budgeted for – then I’m certain you’ll be met with a positive response.

So, whatever client you have and whatever understanding they have of the process and its costs, you are arguably pushing at an open door when it comes to imparting your knowledge and expertise, and you’re ability to find them the right products at highly-competitive prices, regardless of what they’re looking. The message has to be, ‘leave no stone unturned’ when it comes to their needs in conveyancing, or any other area, because if they’re not getting it from you, they’re going to have to get it from somewhere else. Save them the hassle and bother, and make sure you’re getting the full benefit.