Solicitors

claz

ask about the solicitors fees not about searches etc at first as most of these are standard for the area you are buying in

also don't be fooled by the cheapest quote (a mistake i nearly made) as this often means that the solicitor might have a lot of other clients to make up the difference and usually they leave out things like filling in the stamp duty forms etc

ask for a list of whats included and whats excluded then you know from the start where you stand

Joannaclaire

I got quotes from about 5 or 6 local solicitors recently. I drew up a quick spreadsheet to see what they did and didn't include. It's easy to make a first glance comparision of the initial conveyancing fee, but do read all the small print on each quote and ask questions. I found some charged extra for certain things and varied a bit in price, wheras others were all-inclusive.

The main items that varied and were inclusive in some quotes but not in others were:

indemnity insurance
letters/postage/phone calls/courier costs
filling in the stamp duty form
if you want the exchange and then complete within 3 weeks or less it will cost extra per day earlier!!!!!
electronic transfer of money

Some firms recommended a more thorough environmental search (and insurance on the search) than others.

The cheapest quote (at first glance it looked great) had all these sneaky extras such as the penalty for completing within 3 weeks or less of exchanging contracts, in the small print in the accompanying literature in a 6 point typeface, and when I added up all their 'extras', they were almost equal to the the most expensive all inclusive quote.

When I got the quotes I emailed the firms re any questions, as that way I had in writing what is and isn't included if it isn't clear in the original quote.

mummytofour

This is a useful site, you can search the sols in your area.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/home.law

deefadog

Thanks guyz - Stamp Duty will be 23800, so not included

More excellent tips!

Thanks

Jay1b

What is indemnity insurance?