First time buyer - bit confused!

angelface

OK I'm about to phone around. What type of questions should I be asking. Do i want a fixed fee?

angelface

right i spoke to my mortgage guy and to upgrade to homebuyers survey from my valuation will cost an extra £110, which is much cheaper than the surveys i've been quoted.

JennyW_2

angelface wrote:

OK I'm about to phone around. What type of questions should I be asking. Do i want a fixed fee?

just call a few and ask "how much do you charge please to purchase a property", they will ask how much you are intending to spend then will give you a figure (disbursements are extra, ie searches, stamp duty etc). If you are pleased with a price given verbally, ask for it in writing then you can ask them to act for you.

Use a solicitor who provides fixed fees. My fatherinlaw used a local solicitor and he charged by the hour, charged for each letter, call etc - cost him a small fortune and he was only selling a small property with no complications. The solicitor must've been laughing all the way to the bank.

I can PM you details of mine if you wish. Towards the end of the sale, we emailed and talked on the phone most days. He's not one of these stuffy types and always called me back if I left message.

angelface

Yeah go on then, I can give him a call!

JennyW_2

PM sent

angelface

thanks! I presume if you need stuff signed, its all done by post?

chris27

this is my first post on the forums. It's nice to hear other people with the same worries as me.

Myself and my girlfriend have just had an offer on our first proerty accepted on Sunday.

The mortgage with first national has been agreed in principal before we started looking around.

Now it's the next bit!!!

Our mortgage company are charging us £99 for the admin/valuation fee, but from what I've read, I think I'm going to ask them to do a homebuyers report at the same time, and see if this saves us a few pennies! Our purchase price is £97'000, so am I correct in saying we don't have any stamp duty to pay?

My next concern is solicitors fees. Does anyone have a rough idea on costs for our deal? I have an appointment with the solicitor on Thursday morning to get more info.

We are so excited, but also sort of a bit scared of the unknown. It's great:rotfl:

I'm trying not to get ahead of myself until all the paperwork is signed and we have the keys.

Any help on my questions will be gratefully received.

JennyW_2

angelface wrote:

thanks! I presume if you need stuff signed, its all done by post?

yes everything is done via post and all documentation sent is received the next day. There really is no need nowadays to have a local solicitor. We've used the same solicitor now for 2 house moves. Never had a problem with the distance.

JennyW_2

chris27 wrote:

My next concern is solicitors fees. Does anyone have a rough idea on costs for our deal? I have an appointment with the solicitor on Thursday morning to get more info.

again, it's best to shop around to get the best quote. We paid around £400, some solicitors charge £600 or even £700 :eek: (our local one did), hence we use a solicitor in Liverpool - much cheaper but no compromise on the work done. I think if you live in Surrey, it's a license to print money and rip people off :mad: However don't forget the disbursements such as local searches, Land Registry fees, telegraphic transfers etc (the solicitor can provide you with a breakdown). The charges are pretty standard so there wont be much difference between solicitors, however it's their fees you need to check before comitting to one!

chris27

thanks Jenny. What was the name of the solicitors i Liverpool you used. I'm only in Manchester, so it's 30mins down the M62 for me.

I'm not trying to do it on the cheap, but if I can save myself some money I will. LOL