Offer Accepted, now what?

danielinto

opinions4u wrote: »

10) A date for exchange of contracts and completion then has to be negotiated throughout the whole chain (you buy their house, they buy their house, those people buy the next one etc right up to the top, where somebody is probably buying a dead person's house). This is not always straight forwards and could well change, very frustratingly, on more than one occasion.

Thankfully there is no chain in this transaction as the vendor is leaving the country in a few months and the property has been empty for a long time. We are of course FTB so have nothing to sell... I'm sure in a few years (hopefully a long time!) we will have that nightmare to go through!

danielinto

I have been quoted by the estate agents "panel" solicitors the following fee:

£595 + VAT Conveyancing costs
£299 Searches
£125 + VAT Mortgage surcharge

For a property worth £125,000.00 are these cost normal? I would of expected less than this but I guess because it's a set fee they have to account for all transaction sizes?

Any advice on the level of fees to expect from a solicitor would be very welcome!

Thanks

bunny999

The valuation usually ends up being lower than the offer price. Don't forget mortgage arrangement fees. Buying property always costs more and takes longer than you think it will.
PS property prices are still falling - you are likely to be in negative equity by this time next year.

danielinto

bunny999 wrote: »

The valuation usually ends up being lower than the offer price. Don't forget mortgage arrangement fees. Buying property always costs more and takes longer than you think it will.
PS property prices are still falling - you are likely to be in negative equity by this time next year.

Thanks for the advice. We do think that we have managed to bag a bargain though. Everyone that we speak with, from mortgage advisers to solicitors are quite impressed with the price we have achieved. We are marrying in a few months and the property is big enough to serve us for quite a few years, so I am not too concerned by negative equity as there are no plans to move or sell for a pretty long time

I guess I am a bit of a contrarian anyway... everyone is saving these days and I am out there spending. For the last 5 years I was the ones saving when everyone else was out spending... go figure.

Cliveski2009

Hi danielinto, on the £150k property we are purchasing my solicitor has quoted legal fees at £450+vat, £150 land registry searches, £34 name transfer and £6 for some other search. I make that £708 all in.

We made our application today and everything looks positive, they even said we might get the mortgage offer in 2-3 weeks time but we shall see about that!

bunny999 wrote: »

The valuation usually ends up being lower than the offer price. Don't forget mortgage arrangement fees. Buying property always costs more and takes longer than you think it will.
PS property prices are still falling - you are likely to be in negative equity by this time next year.

A first time buyer should be able to negotiate a decent enough discount to avoid having a valuation come back less than the offer. The property we are purchasing sold for £129,500 in 2001 so to be buying it today for £150,000 seems reasonable to me. We got a £15k discount on the asking price (which I felt was good value in the first place).
Negative equity in 12 months time does not really concern me, it's what the situation is like in 5 years time when the fixed rate comes to an end which does. You can't always choose when to buy - prices will be lower in 12 months time but will there be any 90% LTV deals available then?

dimbo61

good idea the 5 year fix as the market will we all hope bounce back and you will have paid some of the mortgage off.
After all the expences of the first few months ( god the bills roll in )
council tax, tv licence, gas,elec,new furniture,household goods etc.
Try in the 2nd year to overpay on the mortgage each month if only by a small amount to start. GOOD LUCK on getting you mortgage and new home together.

danielinto

Ok, I ended up using Compare and convey to find me a cheap solicitor and then I did some research of the companies recomended. From them all, the one that had virtually no complaints was Beaumont Legal so I instructed them.

So far so good, the mortgage has been offered in principle and the valuation was done today, it will be a little longer for the homebuyer one. The solicitors are very, very fast with comunication and every time I have called my solicitor has answered the phone herself, so I am quite confident that they will be quick for the rest of the process and at least I know I can get hold of them quite easily.

The valuation did come at just a bit lower than the offer made, but there was some "notes" on it that indicated there was some work needed on the property that would bring it up to our offer price exactly.

Now, Connells are the estate agent selling the house AND the people that Britannia use to do their valuations so I am not sure what to think about this valuation they have given them...

Any suggestions? Presumably, once Britannia decide what to do (either insist on this work being done before loaning or deciding to loan on the lower valuation) we should go and talk to the estate agent and try and get the vendor to either fix the problem or reduce the price?

Looking forward to any suggestions!

bluu2k

danielinto wrote: »

Ok, I ended up using Compare and convey to find me a cheap solicitor and then I did some research of the companies recomended. From them all, the one that had virtually no complaints was Beaumont Legal so I instructed them.

Hello, just hijack your thread to ask if the firm you used, Beaumont Legal, was good and professional in handling your case? I am having a competitive quote from them but previous bad experience with one online conveyancing firm has put me off a little bit.

Would you recommend this firm?

Cheers,