Solicitors/Conveyancing Costs

lynseydee

I work for a firm of solicitors and the 3rd company you have mentioned we would call them "legal factories" i.e. no one person would be dealing with your file.

When my friend was selling her house and buying another she asked my company for a quote but also got a quote from the estate agents recommended solicitors who she was buying her new house through. Although their quote was cheaper than ours, after she properly read through the paperwork she found they were charging her rediculous amounts for things that don't even cost nowhere near what she was being quoted. In the end she decided to use us as it turned out this other company would have ended up much more expensive.

QTPie

Mummytobe wrote: »

The fees are £400 plus vat versus £285 plus vat of £42....

How is that £300 less then? :huh:

(£400 + VAT = £460. £285 + VAT = £327.75. That is £132.25 difference...)

Mummytobe

lynseydee wrote: »

I work for a firm of solicitors and the 3rd company you have mentioned we would call them "legal factories" i.e. no one person would be dealing with your file.

When my friend was selling her house and buying another she asked my company for a quote but also got a quote from the estate agents recommended solicitors who she was buying her new house through. Although their quote was cheaper than ours, after she properly read through the paperwork she found they were charging her rediculous amounts for things that don't even cost nowhere near what she was being quoted. In the end she decided to use us as it turned out this other company would have ended up much more expensive.

What things did she find in the paperwork??

Mummytobe

QTPie wrote: »

How is that £300 less then? :huh:

(£400 + VAT = £460. £285 + VAT = £327.75. That is £132.25 difference...)

Total is £858 Versus £563....roughly £300.....

Just spoken to estate agents and i dont need to do the searches anymore as they are included in the HIP.

QTPie

According to the OP, the 3rd quote uses exactly the same solicitors as the first (so same firm).

I agree with you re solicitors in general... solicitors are like estate agents and they can vary hugely - it isn't all about cost. A good, efficient, communicative solicitor can save you a lot of time, money and stress over a bad solicitor. I would truly recommned meeting them in their offices: finding out what sort of person they are and how they run their business...

Our previous solicitors we first used to buy our first house in 1997: she was fairly new to her own practice and keen for work - she worked out well. Six years later we - without questioning it - used the same solicitor to sell our house and buy or next house: big mistake! She was obviously a victim of her own success: completely overrun, scatter brained, neither our sale or purchase got the attention they should have done and whenever you talked to her you felt like a "bother".

Wasn't going to use her again! So this time around, I asked for recommendations and chose a very well established small solicitors. When I talked to the main solicitor, she really impressed me and - so far - have not been let down. She is quick, thorough and has time to go through things with us and takes a genuine interest.

QT

lynseydee wrote: »

I work for a firm of solicitors and the 3rd company you have mentioned we would call them "legal factories" i.e. no one person would be dealing with your file.

When my friend was selling her house and buying another she asked my company for a quote but also got a quote from the estate agents recommended solicitors who she was buying her new house through. Although their quote was cheaper than ours, after she properly read through the paperwork she found they were charging her rediculous amounts for things that don't even cost nowhere near what she was being quoted. In the end she decided to use us as it turned out this other company would have ended up much more expensive.

QTPie

Mummytobe wrote: »

Total is £858 Versus £563....roughly £300.....

Just spoken to estate agents and i dont need to do the searches anymore as they are included in the HIP.

So there are other inclusions that the 1st Solicitor includes, but the oline quote doesn't? That other £160 difference is coming from somewhere other than the fees...

QT

Mummytobe

QTPie wrote: »

So there are other inclusions that the 1st Solicitor includes, but the oline quote doesn't? That other £160 difference is coming from somewhere other than the fees...

QT

I have now worked out why...one includes searches and t'other doesnt....so its roughly now just a £160 ish difference.... but still each penny counts!! Esp when im getting the same solicitors which surely equals same service.....

QTPie

Mummytobe wrote: »

I have now worked out why...one includes searches and t'other doesnt....so its roughly now just a £160 ish difference.... but still each penny counts!! Esp when im getting the same solicitors which surely equals same service.....

Are you absolutely SURE that you will have exactly the same solicitors dealing with it? How are you sure of this? Just owndering, because I did a dummy quote on their site and it gives the quote before asking which area of the country you live etc... (but I didn't request an email/telephone quote)

Any luck with asking the actual solicitors to proce match yet?

QT

Mummytobe

QTPie wrote: »

Are you absolutely SURE that you will have exactly the same solicitors dealing with it? How are you sure of this? Just owndering, because I did a dummy quote on their site and it gives the quote before asking which area of the country you live etc... (but I didn't request an email/telephone quote)

Any luck with asking the actual solicitors to proce match yet?

QT

I did the quote on the phone and they told me the name of the solicitors and also in the emailed quote it says the name of the solicitors.

QTPie

Mummytobe wrote: »

I did the quote on the phone and they told me the name of the solicitors and also in the emailed quote it says the name of the solicitors.

Before they told you the name of the solicitors that they were quoting for, did you tell them the names of the solicitors that you already had quotes from?

Is the solicitors they will use "written in stone" or is there a claus that allows them to change the solicitor that it is passed on to.

I would still ask the original solicitors if they can price match (they MUST be loosing more going through a middle man), because I think taht you re better dealing direct.

I guess that I am naturally suspicious... doesn't mean that this isn't a great deal, but still seems odd to me... Good luck and let us know what you decide and how you get on

QT