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Solicitors Fee For House Buying If I pull Out

Joey122
Joey122 Posts: 459 Forumite
Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
in House buying, renting & selling
Hello

We had a solicitor who quoted £350 for a house purchase

This has turned out to be quite a complicated process and we are thinking of pulling out

Does anyone know whether it is fair for them to charge the full figure if I do not exchange??

Comments

  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    Joey122 wrote: »
    We had a solicitor who quoted £350 for a house purchase

    This has turned out to be quite a complicated process and we are thinking of pulling out

    Does anyone know whether it is fair for them to charge the full figure if I do not exchange??
    Fairness is a matter of judgement, not of fact. Discuss with them - as you will be pulling out, there are some parts of the work they no longer have to do, so you should be able to get them down a bit.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Why pull out ... just because buying a house is complicated?
    It will be complicated whenever you decide to buy one.
  • Soot2006
    Soot2006 Posts: 2,184 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    What does the £350 include? what work has the solicitor done for you so far?
  • clutton_2
    clutton_2 Posts: 11,149 Forumite
    £350 will only be for his time - not for disbursements (searches etc) and other costs.
  • Hector-The-Inspector_2
    Hector-The-Inspector_2 Posts: 92 Forumite
    If there's a valid reason for you to pull out the solicitor might charge you part of the fee, on the basis the firm will get your business next time, the longer it runs the more you will pay.
  • bandofbrothers
    bandofbrothers Posts: 442 Forumite
    Im afraid your the kind of buyer that sellers dread !

    Little or no homework carried out before looking into what is involved with buying and selling.

    Very little resolution to complete.

    The time effort and cost that goes into these processes warrant no time wasters. This is where the Scottish system of selling would greatly help in cutting this issue down.

    Harsh words but true.
  • superfran_uk
    superfran_uk Posts: 1,117 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Depending on how far along you are, you will probably end up paying some of most of it, along with any disbursements, unless it's a 'no sale no fee' company.

    It's only fair - they've done the work, they should be paid.
  • stanleyunwin
    stanleyunwin Posts: 108 Forumite
    Some solicitors will only charge you for fees paid out if your house sale falls through for whatever reason.

    We had to pull out of a purchase just before exchange and we were only charged £110 (on a £250K purchase) and my solicitor explained that the firm that they can do this for tax reasons.

    They kept our records on file and when we bought again, we naturally went with them again.

    The simple answer though, is to ring them up and and ask them!
  • mynameisdave
    mynameisdave Posts: 1,284 Forumite
    bandofbrothers wrote: »
    Im afraid your the kind of buyer that sellers dread !

    Little or no homework carried out before looking into what is involved with buying and selling.

    Very little resolution to complete.

    The time effort and cost that goes into these processes warrant no time wasters. This is where the Scottish system of selling would greatly help in cutting this issue down.

    Harsh words but true.

    They could be pulling out because the vendor is messing THEM around.
  • bandofbrothers
    bandofbrothers Posts: 442 Forumite
    mynameisdave wrote: »
    They could be pulling out because the vendor is messing THEM around.


    As the thread starter only states they are wanting to pull out because
    of buying being a complicated process its fair to say it could be either reason !
This discussion has been closed.
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