Questions re solicitor

Debbie1980

Hi

I have scanned the posts on this forum but couldn't find answers to my questions - so apologies if I am posting something that has already been answered

We have finally had an offer accepted on a house we love. We are over the moon. However we have been so busy searching for a house and the best mortgage deal for us (received paperwork for this today) that I now realise I don't actually fully understand what happens next.

I know of course that we need a solicitor. However I am not entirely clear over what I should be looking for in a solicitor and what their role covers. My questions are:

1. The mortgage company will do their own survey however I assume this is quite basic. If we want a more thorough one done can we ask them to do this? Or do we find a completely different surveyor? If so, do we find the surveyor ourselves or does the solicitor do this?
2. When getting quotes for a solicitor, what sort of questions should I be asking them? We want one that will do the best job not necessarily the cheapest.

Many thanks in advance

Cannon_Fodder

You should be able to specify to your lender that you want an above "basic" survey, to save paying for the cheap lenders survey on top of an expensive survey - just pay for the expensive one, the lender should accept that if you ask up front.

Your lender may have a panel of surveyors to choose from, see what they offer. You can always try suggesting one, if you know a reputable firm - they might be on their panel, just not at the top of the list so they don't mention them first...

I would suggest you get a personal recommendation to be sure of getting the service you want from a solicitor. Price alone doesn't guarantee that you will get that.

Ask family and friends for their experiences/suggestions.

Personally, I'd go for a local/regional outfit. Long-standing in the town etc.

Richard_Webster

I would suggest you get a personal recommendation to be sure of getting the service you want from a solicitor. Price alone doesn't guarantee that you will get that.

Ask family and friends for their experiences/suggestions.

Personally, I'd go for a local/regional outfit. Long-standing in the town etc.

That's sensible advice. Ask for an estimate and a detailed breakdown of costs.

trumpton

I can't remember what our solicitors fees were (just purchase), but if I find the papers I will post the breakdown. I think it was around £1300, including all fees and vat. Personal recommendation is the best way to find one, but if your lender has a local one they use I would ask for an estimate and consider using them.

Definitely get at least the 'middle' survey. The basic one is more or less a valuation, it won't find problems that you need to know about like electrics etc.

The next step is to accept your mortgage offer, inform your solicitor, then off you go....

I'm excited for you. Good luck.

PicklePickle

I'm in the process of buying a house and didn't have a clue where to start with looking for a solicitor either! I emailed about 5 or 6 asking for a quote for purchasing a house for £xk and a breakdown of the charges. i found most charged similar for the searches but their fees varied significatnly. I also asked friends and collegues for any recommendations and went for one which was both recommended and competitive on price. Pretty happy with them so far, they've been very quick but thorough, got my fingers crossed for exchange of contracts on Monday!

keith969

Ditto on getting a local solicitor. Mine is about a ten minute walk away, so nearly all correspondence I deliver personally to save the vagaries of the postal system! They were competitive on price and so far I can't fault their service. They are charging me a fixed rate of £450+VAT on the sale on a no sign/no fee basis and £450+VAT on the purchase. Plus the usual disbursements which are inline with what I expected.

suavekc

I bought my first house 2 years ago (in Scotland) at £135,000, solicitors fee was £600 (chose her through a friend that used her - higly recommended and she wasn't wrong!).

First thing to do was secure an 'in-principle' mortgage of course then look for the solicitor.

Strange thing was I never met or spoke with my solicitor once! I emailed her asking if she would act as our solicitor, she agreed, then asked about her fees and then after agreeing told her we were interested in a property, what my offer was, subject to survey etc etc (which is mandatory by mortgage company anyway) and she did the rest. Think we had 6 or 7 emails over a couple of weeks and the house was ours - although other half had to go to her office once to hand something in.

As a FTB I was very surprised at how easy the process was and thought I had missed doing something extremely important!

Anyway other fees I had to pay
Registration fee - £200
Survey - £120 (i think)
Stamp duty - £1,350 (gutted when our lovely Gov't decided to change it).

Although extremely happy with our house I was gutted when interest rates started to go down as we chose a 5-year fixed rate at 5.68%. But as FTB's we were happy knowing what we were paying each month.

Just incase i'm getting side tracked from Debbies post - I wasn't too fussed about solicitors fees - I went on word of mouth from a friend. Although my solicitors fee may be a little higher than what else was aroung, I had no regrets choosing her.

s23sgn

again another interesting post.. the OH rang sols this morning.. quotes from 1,000 all in to 600 plus other add on's, search fee's etc.. and then one quote of 1,400.. lol.. mmm.. thanks..

Tassotti

1000 all in, and 650 plus add-ons is about the same.

All solicitors willl get the checks done and all sols will HAVE to charge the same...Do you know anyone locally who can recommend a good one...

Most property solicitors are notoriously slow and frustrating....(just ask anyone who has bought a house), but some are good.....I bought a place within five days, but that is rare