solicitor

5monkey

hi
We are buying a two bedroom flat for £93000 and have 25% deposit, looking for a solicitor - we have been given a quote for £1200 - is it a reasonable price?

Thank you for your opinion and help

G_M

5monkey wrote: »

hi
we have been given a quote for £1200 - is it a reasonable price?

Thank you for your opinion and help

What for? What does this figure include/exclude.
Acting for mortgage lender?
Stamp duty?
SDLT completion?
...?????

Read here.

bee101

Heya 5monkey. We are currently buying a 3 bedroom house for £156000. We have 10% deposit and our quote from the solicitors was £1009. We got quotes from a few solicitors and went with the cheapest one. A few quoted us £1400 which I thought was rather expensive. Also we are having a spot of bother with our solicitors at the moment (being very slow and extreme lack of communication). Therefore the cheapest doesn't necessarily mean better. However my advise would be to get quotes from a few solicitors (at least 3) and then you can make a more informed decision instead of going with the first one you get a quote from.
Good luck with the move.

5monkey

It includes:

Charges - £595
VAT - £119
Charges on Mortgage Costs - £75
plus VAT at 20% - £15
Telegraphic transfer fee -£36
Postage, phone, copying - £30
Archive costs - £30
Completingthe SDLT return - £60
Land Registry fee - £130
Local authority search fee - £133
Water authority fee - £38
Land charges fee - £4
Land registry fee - £4
Fee paid to Linetime Ltd for providing case software - £12
Stamp Duty land tax - 0

Thank you

G_M

5monkey wrote: »

It includes:

Charges - £595 about right (but see below)
VAT - £119
Charges on Mortgage Costs - £75 should be included in the 595
plus VAT at 20% - £15
Telegraphic transfer fee -£36 banks charge £20 - £30
Postage, phone, copying - £30 !!!rip off should be included in the 595
Archive costs - £30 !!!rip off should be included in the 595
Completingthe SDLT return - £60 !!!rip off should be included in the 595
Land Registry fee - £130 yes
Local authority search fee - £133 varies depending on LA but about right
Water authority fee - £38 about right
Land charges fee - £4 yes
Land registry fee - £4 assume this is Office Copies. Yes
Fee paid to Linetime Ltd for providing case software - £12 ? rip off! Why a charge for their software? Surprised they are not adding a charge for Microsoft Word!
Stamp Duty land tax - 0

Thank you

Go elsewhere

Check also:
If you phone will you get a dedicated person or just whoever in the call centre answers?
With the person doing the work be a solicitor? a licenced conveyancer? a legal Executive? Or an admin person 'overseen' by one of the above?
Can you visit their offices for face-to-face discussion?

5monkey

G_M wrote: »

Go elsewhere

Check also:
If you phone will you get a dedicated person or just whoever in the call centre answers?
With the person doing the work be a solicitor? a licenced conveyancer? a legal Executive? Or an admin person 'overseen' by one of the above?
Can you visit their offices for face-to-face discussion?

thank you, i will try to book an appointment for tomorrow and see...

pink_pirlie

Having just bought a house those fees seem slightly high I paid an excellent solicitor:
£425+VAT for their services
£171 (including VAT) for searches
a few pounds for official entry copies
£25 +VAT transfer fee
£400 for something to do with land registry

and that was it (I think I don't have the paper work on me to be 100% sure). I know I had to pay them just over £2k, but that included stamp duty of £1,300.

They generally chrage on price of house, and for reference mine was £130k.

The people I was buying the house off used a national conveyancer (countrywide) despite me requesting that they used someone local as I know their reputation. They were awful! It took them nearly 6 weeks to even send any paper work to my solicitor and kept mixing up what they were meant to be sending / saying they didn't know if they were allowed to send things and had to get advice from land registry! I had to call and email the estate agent twice a day to get them to chase them to actually do something.

So my advice would be to speak to friends, family and colleagues who have bought/sold houses and find a local solicitor who is highly recomended. Do not go on the advice of your estate agent, bank or mortgage advisor as they probably will be recomending a firm who pay them to advertise them rather than on merit.

Richard_Webster

Quote:
Originally Posted by 5monkey
It includes:

Charges - £595 about right (but see below)
VAT - £119
Charges on Mortgage Costs - £75 should be included in the 595
plus VAT at 20% - £15
Telegraphic transfer fee -£36 banks charge £20 - £30
Postage, phone, copying - £30 !!!rip off should be included in the 595
Archive costs - £30 !!!rip off should be included in the 595
Completingthe SDLT return - £60 !!!rip off should be included in the 595
Land Registry fee - £130 yes
Local authority search fee - £133 varies depending on LA but about right
Water authority fee - £38 about right
Land charges fee - £4 yes
Land registry fee - £4 assume this is Office Copies. Yes
Fee paid to Linetime Ltd for providing case software - £12 ? rip off! Why a charge for their software? Surprised they are not adding a charge for Microsoft Word!
Stamp Duty land tax - 0

Thank you
Go elsewhere

I agree with the comments made by GM..

Whenever people put up posts saying they are buying a property and the solicitor quoted them £xxxx i do wish we got the breakdown to start with because otherwise you really can't compare like with like.

kingstreet

I'd say keep shopping around until you can find a decent fee and verify these items are included in the headline fee and not charged as extras;-

Charges on Mortgage Costs/Acting for mortgage lender - £75
Postage, phone, copying - £30
Archive costs - £30
Completingthe SDLT return - £60
Fee paid to Linetime Ltd for providing case software - £12.

Solicitors who want to make their headline rate look cheap often hide these extra fees in the disbursements so you think they apply to all, when many include them.

timmyt

bee101 wrote: »

Heya 5monkey. We are currently buying a 3 bedroom house for £156000. We have 10% deposit and our quote from the solicitors was £1009. We got quotes from a few solicitors and went with the cheapest one. A few quoted us £1400 which I thought was rather expensive. Also we are having a spot of bother with our solicitors at the moment (being very slow and extreme lack of communication). Therefore the cheapest doesn't necessarily mean better. However my advise would be to get quotes from a few solicitors (at least 3) and then you can make a more informed decision instead of going with the first one you get a quote from.
Good luck with the move.

most people moving home think they have a 'solicitor' but only smart money gets them, most people pay the same for someone unqualified.

Probelms with your cheapo conveyancer is usually spotted 3 months after buying when a knock on the door/letter comes, or on a resale. NOt worth it at all.

But people think cheap means good, classic error which eeps this Forum busy.

FireWyrm

5monkey wrote: »

It includes:

Charges - £595
VAT - £119
Charges on Mortgage Costs - £75
plus VAT at 20% - £15
Telegraphic transfer fee -£36
Postage, phone, copying - £30
Archive costs - £30
Completingthe SDLT return - £60
Land Registry fee - £130
Local authority search fee - £133
Water authority fee - £38
Land charges fee - £4
Land registry fee - £4
Fee paid to Linetime Ltd for providing case software - £12
Stamp Duty land tax - 0

Thank you

Good God! They saw you comming didnt they.

Try this lot : http://www.lawcomm.co.uk/

I've used them twice. They are generally efficient, cheap and do the job.