First Time Buyer - Legal Fees

darrinm81

Hey All,

Well after some persistence and (im)patience my offer has been accepted and now the real fun begins! Property is a leasehold flat.

The estate agent has promptly put me in touch with their in-house solicitors. Quoted bill is £2541 (inc VAT). This excludes the stamp duty amount!

Unless I am missing a trick here, the quote seems significantly high. Quote details immediately below followed by details of an alternative online quote.

(1) Legal Fees = £1198
Professional Fees
Leasehold Supplement
Administration Fee

(2) Dibursement Fees = £370
Professional Search Package
Bankruptcy Search Fee (V.A.T. Exempt)
Land Charges Search (V.A.T. Exempt)

(3) Other Fees = £610
Acting for Lender
Telegraphic Transfer Fee
Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Preparation
Land Registry Charges (V.A.T. Exempt)

I know some costs are fixed and won't vary, but the professional search package and legal fees feel excessive.

I have run some quotes from the following website - average price is £1k for Conveyancing Costs and Disbursement Costs:
http://www.firstrungnow.com/legal-services-quote.aspx

Purchase conveyancing costs:
Bank Transfer Fee
VAT on costs @20%:

Land Registry Fee
Local Authority Search
Bankruptcy Search
Water and Drainage (Con29DW)
Land Registry OS1 Priority Search

No completion = No fee service Included
Redemption of your existing mortgage Included
Professional indemnity insurance Included
Dealing with your new mortgage lender Included
All postage and printing Included
Completing Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Included

Q1. Am I missing something here?
Q2. Apart from asking friends and colleagues for recommendations on solicitors, are there any good websites out there? I am planning to give a few a call (from quote results) tomorrow to run through.
Q3. Do these on line quotes include everything or will I be hit by any other fees?
Q4. Will going with another solicitor harm the sale process?
Q5. If the property is a flat within a relatively new build, do you need to go with a detailed search/survey?

Apologies for the nativity here. I have spent several hours reading through web sites but they have contained rather general information.

timmyt

darrinm81 wrote: »

Hey All,

Well after some persistence and (im)patience my offer has been accepted and now the real fun begins! Property is a leasehold flat.

The estate agent has promptly put me in touch with their in-house not in house, but you are farmed to a factory of unqualified clerks...good luck on a resale my friend! solicitors. Quoted bill is £2541 (inc VAT). This excludes the stamp duty amount!

Unless I am missing a trick here, the quote seems significantly high.and you wont even have your own personal lawyer (solicitor or legal executive) start to finish - ouch!! Quote details immediately below followed by details of an alternative online quote.

(1) Legal Fees = £1198
Professional Fees what!!!!!!!! how much....how much are you buying for £800k??? Expect to pay £750 plus VAT max for what I assume is something leasehold around £300-£350
Leasehold Supplement
Administration Fee

(2) Dibursement Fees = £370
Professional Search Package - they may use an agent to do the local search rather than the local authority direct...avoid avoid avoid.....use local authority every time. They may also use these search companies who charge their own fee for doing your searches (hub fee I think they call it) Avoid...use STL everytime.
Bankruptcy Search Fee (V.A.T. Exempt) - fine
Land Charges Search (V.A.T. Exempt) - fine

(3) Other Fees = £610
Acting for Lender - rip off, total profit by the law firm on top of the £1198....did they see you coming or what!
Telegraphic Transfer Fee
Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Preparation Pure profit again oh my god.....I dread to read on whether you are paying for their Xmas party bar tab
Land Registry Charges (V.A.T. Exempt)

I know some costs are fixed and won't vary, but the professional search package and legal fees feel excessive.

I have run some quotes from the following website - average price is £1k for Conveyancing Costs and Disbursement Costs:
http://www.firstrungnow.com/legal-services-quote.aspx

Purchase conveyancing costs:
Bank Transfer Fee
VAT on costs @20%:

Land Registry Fee
Local Authority Search
Bankruptcy Search
Water and Drainage (Con29DW)
Land Registry OS1 Priority Search

No completion = No fee service Included
Redemption of your existing mortgage Included
Professional indemnity insurance Included - no solicitor charges that
Dealing with your new mortgage lender Included
All postage and printing Included
Completing Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Included

Q1. Am I missing something here?
Q2. Apart from asking friends and colleagues for recommendations on solicitors, are there any good websites out there? I am planning to give a few a call (from quote results) tomorrow to run through. Speak to 3 local solicitor firms near the proeprty. Make sure they are Lexcel accredited ( put the property postcode into here http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law ) and that you receive your own dedicated solicitor or legal executive
Q3. Do these on line quotes include everything or will I be hit by any other fees? invariably you will, as cheap headline charge lures you in and then once it is too late....oops you missed the fine print of extras
Q4. Will going with another solicitor harm the sale process? course not. i start work the day I get instructed and chase the other lawyer for the papers and searches go straight off.
Q5. If the property is a flat within a relatively new build, do you need to go with a detailed search/survey? speak to a 'Chartered' surveyor and ask them

Apologies for the nativity here. I have spent several hours reading through web sites but they have contained rather general information.

good grief you are lucky to not already have signed up. ditch the high priced outfit fast!!!!!!

Heck Richard Webster, please take this person on.


The cheaper the fee, the more alarm bells should go off. Usually made up for in the list of extrs they say they pay out for, but many are to themselves...acting for lender, leasehold supplement, raising enquiries, filling in a stamp duty form ......

hazyjo

Yes it's way over average. Never advisable to use the in-house solicitor. As above really - get three quotes elsewhere and make sure you don't sign anything, and, if you have, check the cooling off period quick!

Jx

darrinm81

Thanks for confirming my thoughts. I refused to sign up to the in-house crew to allow some time for researching alternatives.

I am considering the online quote approach but it appears many of the offering firms are not based in London. I would rather deal with someone local to the property.

Looking on the Law Society website, how do I make a choice?
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law

Do I narrow it down to "Firms with Lexcel accreditation" and "Member of an Accreditation Scheme"?

I have asked the agent for some other recommendations.

DVardysShadow

darrinm81 wrote: »

... I have asked the agent for some other recommendations.

Do not ask the agent. The agent does not work for you and as buyer it is not good to take any kind of service [mortgage, solicitor or anything] - or even a recommendation form the agent.

And if you have rejected the in house solicitor, do you think that they will have your interests at heart?

flackety

Hi darrinm81

I was in the same position recently, was not happy with the quotes when ringing around (although mine were nowhere near as high as yours), so did some googling. I just googled conveyancing fees and about the third one down was http://www.agentquote.co.uk/conveyancing.aspx (hope link works). Just put in the information and it will come back with quotes from actual solicitors (not online), which is cheaper then going direct.

For example, the firm I am using quoted £846 + VAT on the phone and using this site it is £705.12, so quite a big saving (both excluding stamp duty). I have heard of them though, and they have a good reputation so it's still worth doing your homework, although there are reviews about the firm's on the site.

Hope this helps.

Flackety

darrinm81

Thanks for the replies.

I am likely to go with one of the firms found via the online quote search. I spoke to them on the phone - much cheaper than in house quote, up front about costs and positive reviews online. I also spoke to a local solicitor firm. Both indicated being "local" does not add any benefit.

There does not appear to be much different in service offerings. They seem to offer the same services but at different costs. The largest cost is the legal/convey costs.

Any hold ups seem to be with third parties rather than the actual solitior?

Richard_Webster

I think OP needs to tell us how much the purchase price is, which lender he is using, and in which local authority area the property is situated. We can then see how much the Land Registry and search fees should be.

Local search fees in London Boroughs can vary by up to £200 from one authority to another, e.g Kingston £83, Waltham Forest £287.66.

Why "Acting for the lender" and "Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Preparation" are included in "Other Fees" rather than professional fees I can't imagine. TimmyT and I would say that they should be included in professional fees.

MrandMrsB

Mr B can answer the question if you tell him which area you live in and the purchase price of the flat. It does seem rather high, but depends on the circumstances.

Personal recommendation from a friend or professional (not the estate agent) is best when looking for a solicitor. Don't forget that most specialise in different areas of law, mind you most solicitors do the basics like conveyancing.