Solicitor's fees - do these fees seem reasonable? EA's recommended solicitor v local

timmyt

zara*elise wrote: »

Thanks! Have a few quotes coming through from two other local firms so shall see how they compare. Is it possible to 'haggle' pricing for conveyancing? For example, asking the solicitors above to drop the SD fee?

don't haggle, as you are not buying a can of beans. you are getting a service and conveyancers are sooooooo different.

in OPs case, I'd trust the agent if their recommended lawyer is next door, then get other quotes too.

but £595 on bot sounds right.

you go cheaper and you have to ask yourself what are you not getting for your money.

Make sure:
1. you get a solicitor/legal executive as a bare minimum
2. they don't close for lunch or dead at 5pm
3. they use email
4. they call you personally with updates and not fob you off to a website
5. they have a decent website and with their own proeprty news posted by the lawyers you will have
6. that you get your very own qualified lawyer start to finish (the same one)

zara*elise

Have been in contact with another local solicitor and these are the fees they set out. They've also sent through a sample contract that I'm going to read after I've had lunch.

Again, any thoughts or opinions would be gratefully received!

Costs on sale @ £192,000 395.00
VAT on above 79.00

Mortgage Redemption fee 95.00
VAT on above 19.00

Office Copy Entries (per title) 8.00

Bank telegraphic transfer fee 40.00
VAT on above 8.00

Postages, photocopying and telephone expenses 40.00
VAT on above 8.00

Identity Check per person 6.00

Costs on purchase @ £260,000 395.00
VAT on above 79.00

Bank telegraphic transfer fee 40.00
VAT on above 8.00

Postages, photocopying and telephone expenses 40.00
VAT on above 8.00

Stamp Duty @ 3% 7,800.00

Land Registry fees 280.00

Acting for mortgage lender 95.00
VAT on above 19.00

Completion of Inland Revenue Land Transaction Return 50.00
VAT on above 10.00

Final Search fees and incidental expenses 20.00

Local, Water and Enviro Search fees to be assessed

rach29

Just dropping in to ask a quickie... why are they charging VAT on the Bank TT fee? They are not charged VAT by the bank?

kingstreet

492800 wrote: »

my fees were set out like this (see below) and total just under £1000.. (on a sale under £250k)
and I adore my solicitor. he has been incredible and very thorough. 5 friends have used him too.
I was dubious using a person not local (he's Leicester, im london) but it has never been a problem. When I call him he knows exactly the status of the sale and is very keen to help.
he is Ian Taylor https://www.pjhammond.com

Fees (Purchase) 425.00
VAT at 20% 85.00
Administration Charge for Telegraphic Transfer 26.00
VAT at 20% 5.20
Local Search (dependent on area) 120.00
Water Authority Search 45.60
Environmental Search 45.24
Chancel Search 18.00
Official Searches 8.00
H.M.Land Registry Fees 200.00
HSBC Bank Charge 10.00

In my opinion, THAT'S how it should be. One fee, disbursements set out clearly.

zara - you've got another one "tagging-on" fees for mortgage repayment and acting for lender, to make their headline fee look cheap.

zara*elise

It's just so frickin' hard to choose. Seems like they've all done that around here. Thing is, we'd like to stay local, but they all have such different pricing. Once even said I'd need to factor in costing for a leasehold information pack which could be upwards of £200, yet none of the others have stated that.

Nightmare. Need to make a decision tonight so we can get the ball rolling.

Richard_Webster

Costs on sale @ £192,000 395.00
VAT on above 79.00

Mortgage Redemption fee 95.00
VAT on above 19.00

Bank telegraphic transfer fee 40.00
VAT on above 8.00

Postages, photocopying and telephone expenses 40.00
VAT on above 8.00

So actually 395+95+40 = 530 and arguably 40 for CHAPS fee should be 30 which is more reasonable so this is like £540 + VAT in fact - apply same principle to purchase and factor in the fee for filling in the SDLT form and you see the equivalents.

If you are selling a flat and managing agents will have to complete a questionnaire they might easily charge £200 for doing this although the solicitor would only be taking an educated guess as to the amount - I would do the same but warn the client it was only an educated guess.

On the point about VAT on Bank Transfer Fees the issue is that we have charge these as part of our services - they are not a disbursement. Most solicitors do the CHAPs transfers themselves using connections to bank software and don't directly involve bank staff unless something goes wrong. So I have a facility with Lloyds TSB who charge me so much a month for using it plus so much for each transfer I make. My staff have to enter all the data on the bank's software and come to me for security codes etc so it is reasonable to make a charge. So the £30 + VAT I charge covers the cost of both having and using the facility and my staff time - so we have to charge VAT on it.

zara*elise

Richard Webster, you are amazing. Thanks for explaining that. Will have to ask the other two solicitors about the questionnaire, they haven't mentioned it. Would it be something covered in their basic fee? Or would it be an extra payment?

Doshwaster

timmyt wrote: »

Make sure:
1. you get a solicitor/legal executive as a bare minimum
2. they don't close for lunch or dead at 5pm
3. they use email
4. they call you personally with updates and not fob you off to a website
5. they have a decent website and with their own proeprty news posted by the lawyers you will have
6. that you get your very own qualified lawyer start to finish (the same one)

Good advice, especially the "use email" one. While cleary some documents do need to be done in the post many quick commuications can be done by email and can save a lot of time and money.

The solicitor I used was good on technology, would reply to emails within the hour and even sent text updates. I had a cheaper quote from thei next dor neighbour who refused to use email - everything had to be done by post.

Going by a recommendation is the best way to choose one. You could save a few hundred in up front costs by choosing the cheapest solicitor but it could cost you in the long run if the convayancing is delayed or badly done. I would also strongly suggest using a local solicitor - they will know the local market and you can pop in for a face to face chat if there are any problems.

As an ex-boss used to say "it's crazy to pay too much for legal advice but it's suicidal to pay too little"

chesneyoctopus

If you ever had any doubts about using a local solicitor rather than an on line solicitor/licensed conveyancer factory, just see the threads on, for example, ARC, Beaumont Legal and Countrywide property Lawyers.

It is good to see so many recommendations being given for local firms.

Richard_Webster

Richard Webster, you are amazing. Thanks for explaining that. Will have to ask the other two solicitors about the questionnaire, they haven't mentioned it. Would it be something covered in their basic fee? Or would it be an extra payment?

It can't be part of their basic fee because the amount charged is entirely up to the whim of the managing agent concerned. If you are selling a flat you likely to get charged a fee by the managing agent for information and all a solicitor can do, unless he has recently dealt with the same managing agent/same block, is give an educated guess. At the end of the day you will get charged what the managing agent wants, not what your solicitor says in his estimate.

Some solicitors will simply make a point in their terms and conditions that if you are selling a flat there will be a fee payable to the managing agent for information.

If I know the sale of a flat is involved I will make an educated guess as to the kind of likely figure and include that in my estimate. There would be an item:

Landlord's Information Fee (depends on attitude of landlord/managing agent, about) £50-300

The figure I put in would depend on my knowledge of the position/experience in any particular case. Some Councils only charge about £50 for the information when we are dealing with the sales of ex-Council flats. Local managing agents typically charge £100-£150 but some in London could be £200-£300 or more.

I probably get the more thoughtful clients because I suspect that some will be put off by an extra figure in the estimate, particularly if was a high one. That is the dilemma some solicitors have. It is regrettably the case that some feel that if they are honest and come clean with high figures for payments to third parties outside their control they will lose the business to others, simply because those reading the estimate will look at the bottom line figure and won't understand how it is made up.

Frankly I would rather not go there, and would rather be upfront with possible costs to third parties as far as reasonably possible.

I recently told someone on the phone that with my knowledge of the particular block where they were selling the fees for information would be at least £380!