| If you want to have a 'pressure free' purchase or sale, my advice is to shop around for a solicitor or conveyancer early on - and certainly well before you make or accept an offer!
If you intend using a local firm of solicitors, ask your family and friends first as they may be able to recommend a good firm that they have used in the past. Alternatively, you can look in yellow pages under 'solicitors and conveyancers' and choose three or four firms that you have heard of. Call them and ask for a 'fixed fee' conveyancing quote (which will usually be based on the price of the property)
With a 'fixed fee' quote, you pay a fixed package price for all the legal work - so you won't end up facing a huge legal bill if there any 'hiccups' along the way! You should also make sure that your quote is on a 'No Move - No Fee' basis, so if your sale or purchase falls through there's no legal bill to pay.
The last factor to consider if you are using a local firm is that you need to pick one that has at least two partners because many mortgage lenders will not deal with 'one man bands'.
OK. You now have several fixed fee conveyancing quotes, all on a 'No Move - No Fee' basis from firms with two or more partners. It's not unusual for these quotations to vary by several hundred pounds, but as the quotes are for the same package I suggest you save some cash and go with the cheapest firm. | 
