Conveyancing Quote from Estate Agents

caveman1

Hi, Ive just been emailed a quote from the estate agents preffered solicitors. Been told by someone it sounds about right but would like another few opinions

£62,500,

Freehold, No Mortgage

Our fee 399.00
Stamp duty land tax fee 55.00
Local and Other Searches 260.00
Land registry fee 80.00
Stamp Duty 00.00
Additional searches 23.00
Chancel Repair Liability 30.00
VAT on our fees 79.45
Total £926.45

Its my first property purchase so dont know what it all means. Why are they quoting £55 for stamp duty land tax and nothing for stamp duty? the agreed price is 62.5k, well below any threshold.

any comments and advice would be much apreciated.

thanks

MexPirate

In my rather limited experience I would say that it looks high - there won't be any stamp duty to pay due to the value of the house, I questioned this with my EA's FA and they said although there is no stamp duty they still need to send of forms and blah blah which had a cost attached to it - HMRC's page claims there is no SDLT due on properties under £125k: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/intro/rates-thresholds.htm#1

£260 seems a lot for searches, although your property may require extra searches I would ensure they are required before paying for them!

Definately worth getting another quote, preferably one you can find through a personal recommendation from someone who has used them in the past

BitterAndTwisted

Get two more quotes from conveyancing solicitors. Any quote you get through an EA will be high as they get paid commission for making the introduction. That money could stay in your pocket instead of going into theirs

timmyt

caveman1 wrote: »

Hi, Ive just been emailed a quote from the estate agents preffered solicitors. Been told by someone it sounds about right but would like another few opinions

£62,500,

Freehold, No Mortgage

Our fee 399.00
Stamp duty land tax fee 55.00
Local and Other Searches 260.00
Land registry fee 80.00
Stamp Duty 00.00
Additional searches 23.00
Chancel Repair Liability 30.00
VAT on our fees 79.45
Total £926.45

Its my first property purchase so dont know what it all means. Why are they quoting £55 for stamp duty land tax and nothing for stamp duty? the agreed price is 62.5k, well below any threshold.

any comments and advice would be much apreciated.

thanks

they still need to complete a stamp duty form, but that is a con to separately charge for it, as it is pure profit,

great overall fee though, but are you getting a 'solicitor' or someone with very juniopr legal raining.

did you ask?

will they have conduct throughout...are they on email and direct dial tel numbers for you....good luck OP

timmyt

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Get two more quotes from conveyancing solicitors. Any quote you get through an EA will be high as they get paid commission for making the introduction. That money could stay in your pocket instead of going into theirs[/QUOTE

actual solicitor firms who pay referrals are not bad...as it is cheaper than putting an advert in the press.

and the lawyer always bears the cost from their fee, so whether they pay it or not, their fee should be the same.

I worry when an EA sends you out of the County to an outfit such as Countrywide, Premier Property Shoosmiths, Enact, Optima, the usual......

Yorkie1

As said, get two further quotes and ask who will be doing the conveyancing.

Also ask them to break down the searches fees. I paid less than £200 for the searches on my purchase earlier this year - you're being quoted nearly £300.

G_M

caveman1 wrote: »

Hi, Ive just been emailed a quote from the estate agents preffered solicitors.
thanks

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Why are you interested in the EA's preferred solicitors? It is your preference that matters. Find your own conveyancer. Don't rely on someone who
a) has a vested interest to make money (by commission etc) and
b) is working for 'the other side' (the vendors of the property)

shimano

I personally wouldn't price compare solicitors, given you are buying a property and not finding the cheapest place to buy a 40" LCD or smething.

Find out who the best locals are from friends etc. Best to get someone who is dilligent than obsessing with saving £100 here or there...

Richard_Webster

I personally wouldn't price compare solicitors, given you are buying a property and not finding the cheapest place to buy a 40" LCD or smething.

Find out who the best locals are from friends etc. Best to get someone who is dilligent than obsessing with saving £100 here or there...

I agree and I also agree with TimmyT's general conclusion. The SDLT form does have to be completed even though you are not paying it - but really they should be telling you the fee is £454.

Ask the solicitors direct what searches you get for the £260. Councils vary from area to area - Croydon charges £218 for a local Search, Portsmouth £50! It may be that they have given you an average figure. I would tell most people £260 as a typical figure but for that you get Local Search, Water/Drainage , Environmental & Plans Search Plus Search plus last minute Land Registry and Bankruptcy and insurance instead of a Chancel Search. The £30 quoted for Chancel Insurance is a little high - they should be able to get the cost down to about half that.

Also, depending on your lender, some of the searches are not vital. An environmental search can be useful - especially if your buyer does one when you come to sell and annoying entries which you did not know about come up which delay the sale, but many major lenders expressly say that it is not required by them.

caveman1

Great everyone, thanks for all your advice. Its starting to sink in now.

Ive been ringing around this morning for quotes and advice, no one else has included chancel insurance and recomended not bothering for the area, funny thing is theres 3 churches in the village and one directly oppostite the house.

Also none of the searches are mandatory as Im a cash buyer, does anyone lese risk not having them? would asking a few neighbours be ok?

The stamp duty for can be filled in myself which is why it is quoted seperatly from the solicitors fee saving between £55 -£75 quoted.

Everyone one wants to save money but Im not usually a risk taker so im happy with people calling me an idiot for not considering having the searches.

thanks

rk

caveman1

also has anyone used

abodeconveyancing.co.uk/

They are very reasonably priced and include searches, infact they only reccomend 2 out of the 5 or 6 searches for my area. just a bit apprehensive using them as Ive promised the seller a quick sale.