First time buyer, no clue what I'm doing. Mortgage broker or not?

blizeH

Got a letter today through the post with loads of information from the solicitor the EA mentioned... "The Property Centre have instructed us to deal with the purchase of this house" or words to that effect, even after I said on maybe three or four occasions I want to use my own solicitor, sigh!

It's actually quite annoying and frankly a bit worrying with the way they go about their business. The house was for sale with two different companies, if I have any hassle at all or they try and charge me for this letter (or indeed the entire process) can I just say thanks but no thanks and go with the other EA?

Fire_Fox

I'd just ignore it and carry on doing your own thing! If the solicitors want to waste time posting you letters and preparing contracts when they have not been instructed by you then that is their lookout.

Yorkie1

I was just going to post the same as Fire Fox, but then wondered whether you had inadvertently signed a letter of instruction to the solicitors in all her dealings with the EA -in which case, would it be worth writing to the solicitors saying that you do not wish to instruct them,that you have repeatedly told the EA this, but that the message has clearly not got through.

blizeH

Thanks guys - I haven't signed anything yet, quite literally haven't signed a thing, so I left a voice message for them earlier and will leave it at that I guess! Cheers

bitsandpieces

If they sent a letter like that, I'd absolutely not use the Estate Agent's recommended solicitor (even if I had to pay more to use another).

If you've had a chance to shop around for recommendations and quotes, it might be helpful if you instructed your own solicitor early next week. The Estate Agent may then finally twig that you won't use theirs...and, if they do keep pressuring you, you can suggest that they contact your solicitor to discuss things

Radsteral

Same as you , i am a first time buyer... i stoped reading the my daily Evening Standard and kept reading and reading this forum daily.
In the end i had sooo much knowledge, that i managed to find the best mortgage to suit me..and any insurance that i needed
problem was i couldnt get that morgage!
i tried few indipendent mortgage advisers and as soon as i heard the typical ''i ll get you mortgage but you ll need this and thgis and this insurance i walked away
the one i setled with, i knew he didnt offer the best mortgage but the best available for me .

i suggest you should learn yourself as much as you can and if you think you got the deposit and the wages to match, go for a indipendend broker and let him do the work for you but cut his crap short as soon as he tells you some thing thats not right !
as for the estate agents recomandations, i would tell you how it works.

as a plasterer i give my local estate agent 10 percent of any job comming from him..
when i quote though , a job that i would think cost 1000 quid i would quote 1000+10% .
every body happy !

Radsteral

as for that solicitors letter, its like a spam.. i got about 4 of them from diferent solicitors, while visiting diferent estate agents.
all mentioned what your paper says and required a £75 cheque etc.
dont know about your council but my council has suplied me with a big , free recycle bin for paper /glas/ etc

blizeH

Thanks again guys, the mortgage side is all but sorted now hopefully, rang FD and they were very nice and helpful, so will sort that asap once the solicitor is sorted

If they're charging £125 for 'Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) Authority' does that sound right to anyone? I've phoned three places, and only the one I initially wanted to go with has any mention of that - is it a useful check they're including that the others don't, or a cynical attempt at making a bit more out of me? That's on top of the £2,226 stamp duty charge by the way!

Nevermind, seems like it's worth paying the extra, even if that £125 for it does seem very steep!

Eric1

blizeH wrote: »

If they're charging £125 for 'Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) Authority' does that sound right to anyone? I've phoned three places, and only the one I initially wanted to go with has any mention of that - is it a useful check they're including that the others don't, or a cynical attempt at making a bit more out of me? That's on top of the £2,226 stamp duty charge by the way!

Nevermind, seems like it's <link>, even if that £125 for it does seem very steep!

I got three different quotes from local solicitors, they all mention "admin fee for completing SDLT" - around £57, 65 and 95.
Now wondering if I should suggest completing the form myself but ask to check it for a smaller fee. Has anyone tried that?

keith969

blizeH wrote: »

Thanks again guys, the mortgage side is all but sorted now hopefully, rang FD and they were very nice and helpful, so will sort that asap once the solicitor is sorted

If they're charging £125 for 'Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) Authority' does that sound right to anyone? I've phoned three places, and only the one I initially wanted to go with has any mention of that - is it a useful check they're including that the others don't, or a cynical attempt at making a bit more out of me? That's on top of the £2,226 stamp duty charge by the way!

Nevermind, seems like it's worth paying the extra, even if that £125 for it does seem very steep!

£125 is a bit high, my solicitor charged £85 for the SDLT.