Solicitor's fees

pete1717

Sponge wrote: »

I'm deadly serious. So I thank you to be more courteous in my thread. I came here for advice, not snide remarks. If you wish to continue, take it elsewhere. If not, then stay and help.

Are you saying the quote I have received is too low and that the Solicitors providing it must therefore be incompetent? If that is the case, can you please tell me exactly how much the fees should be, so that I may employ the services of a proper Solicitor. You mention qualifications: which ones?[/QUO

Timmyt's continuing rant about the office cleaners get really tiring
and very boring.

To give you some sort of comparison my fees would be in the region of £400 plus vat plus disbursements. No additional fees for completing stamp duty forms, charges for phone calls/letters/faxes etc - I work on a fixed fee basis.

I am a one man band and am open after 5pm and also reply to emails in the evening and at weekends

Although I charge less than £500 I am not the office cleaner/tea lady/ etc. ( but as a sole practitioner I am normally these too!) but am a fully qualified Licenced Conveyancer and Legal Executive.

So my advice would be to call your Conveyancer for a quote and speak to the person who will be dealing with your transaction. Make sure you receive the quotation in writing and read their terms and conditions before signing anything

If you happen to find you will be dealing with a Conveyancer who is not a fully qualified Solicitor/Licenced Conveyancer/Legal Executive ( sorry Tiimmyt) remember that some of them have been doing the job for so long they know full well what they are doing.

timmyt

G_M wrote: »

Timmy - apart form the disagreements we've had in the past about DIY conveyancing, local Vs National firms etc, I genuinely don't understand the way you stress the importance of "the team" staying open past 5 PM?

Most businesses transact business during the 'working day'. OK, maybe it's convenient for some buyers/sellers to have access to after-hours advice, but surely that depends on the client? Many may not have that as an important requirement in which case a small local one-man firm that closes at 5 pm is fine. Surely the quality/professionalism of work is far more important?

9-5 firms are history I am afraid, keep up or move aside. Go that extra mile/react to customer demand etc. Tesco law is gonna hit hrd as is.

How many times, literally a hundred or more, have in my career I tried to exchnage contracts to find out the other conveyancer has gone at a few mins before 5pm. Nightmare and gives the profession a bad name. Usually the solicitor firms too (come on guys you let down the team).

I am not saying it to just have something to say, I say it as it is a genuine issue for me and those hundred clients. IT happened last week.

I am not talking about everyone in the Team being in, just someone to cover, as it is a massive red-herring for any outfit to say they work until 8pm as if that is something worth paying for. Sucker if you fall for that, or the opening at weekends. NO business is transacted past 7pm or at weekends for conveyancers. All business is done via email - and your conveyancer should have a Blackberry to accept emails out of hours anyway, and so use the post or email or fax if you work 9-5 and cannot get in.

BUt close at 5pm sharp or at lunch and your lifespan in the market is over, and your competitor - my FIrm if you are in my TOwn - is reaping the benefit.

timmyt

Sponge wrote: »

I'm deadly serious. So I thank you to be more courteous in my thread. No discourtesy at all, do reread. I came here for advice, and I gave it not snide remarks nor made those. If you wish to continue, take it elsewhere. If not, then stay and help.

Are you saying the quote I have received is too low and that the Solicitors providing it must therefore be incompetent? er....my post is very clear, and I didn't say that If that is the case, can you please tell me exactly how much the fees should be should be or should not be? should be is up to the firm, but under £500 I consider you start taking a risk and you do not get the list of things I said , so that I may employ the services of a proper Solicitor. You mention qualifications: which ones? being an actual 'solicitor' or legal executive is the qualification

DMs are when people ask me for more info, so feel free, but otherwise my list above is the best advice I can give.

timmyt

pete1717 wrote: »

Sponge wrote: »

I'm deadly serious. So I thank you to be more courteous in my thread. I came here for advice, not snide remarks. If you wish to continue, take it elsewhere. If not, then stay and help.

Are you saying the quote I have received is too low and that the Solicitors providing it must therefore be incompetent? If that is the case, can you please tell me exactly how much the fees should be, so that I may employ the services of a proper Solicitor. You mention qualifications: which ones?[/QUO

Timmyt's continuing rant about the office cleaners get really tiring
and very boring. To the cheapo firms I am sure it is annoying :rotfl:

To give you some sort of comparison my fees would be in the region of £400 plus vat plus disbursements. No additional fees for completing stamp duty forms, charges for phone calls/letters/faxes etc - I work on a fixed fee basis.

I am a one man band are you able to act for any lender that the buyer wants to use, or do you get the buyer to have a separate lawyer for that...not your fault but not ideal either and am open after 5pm and also reply to emails in the evening and at weekends and when you are on holiday, what happens? when you get too busy what then?

Although I charge less than £500 I am not the office cleaner/tea lady/ etc. ( but as a sole practitioner I am normally these too!) but am a fully qualified Licenced Conveyancer and Legal Executive glad you added this after saying LC.

So my advice would be to call your Conveyancer for a quote and speak to the person who will be dealing with your transaction. Make sure you receive the quotation in writing and read their terms and conditions before signing anything

If you happen to find you will be dealing with a Conveyancer who is not a fully qualified Solicitor/Licenced Conveyancer/Legal Executive ( sorry Tiimmyt) remember that some of them have been doing the job for so long they know full well what they are doing.[/QUOTE]

I agree with the blue bit if they are 15 years + but why instruct when you can have an actual conveyancing solicitor for the same price, often cheaper and otherwise rarely much more.....though we shall only be recruiting solicitors and legal executives for all new employees.

timmyt

timmyt wrote: »

pete1717 wrote: »

Sponge wrote: »

I'm deadly serious. So I thank you to be more courteous in my thread. I came here for advice, not snide remarks. If you wish to continue, take it elsewhere. If not, then stay and help.

Are you saying the quote I have received is too low and that the Solicitors providing it must therefore be incompetent? If that is the case, can you please tell me exactly how much the fees should be, so that I may employ the services of a proper Solicitor. You mention qualifications: which ones?[/QUO

Timmyt's continuing rant about the office cleaners get really tiring
and very boring. To the cheapo firms I am sure it is annoying :rotfl:

To give you some sort of comparison my fees would be in the region of £400 plus vat you'd work harder for £700 plus VAt and I have yet found a qualified solicitor or legal executive who does a sale or purchase under £495 plus VAT. plus disbursements. No additional fees for completing stamp duty forms, charges for phone calls/letters/faxes etc - I work on a fixed fee basis.

I am a one man band are you able to act for any lender that the buyer wants to use, or do you get the buyer to have a separate lawyer for that...not your fault but not ideal either and am open after 5pm and also reply to emails in the evening and at weekends and when you are on holiday, what happens? when you get too busy what then?

Although I charge less than £500 I am not the office cleaner/tea lady/ etc. ( but as a sole practitioner I am normally these too!) but am a fully qualified Licenced Conveyancer and Legal Executive glad you added this after saying LC.

So my advice would be to call your Conveyancer for a quote and speak to the person who will be dealing with your transaction. Make sure you receive the quotation in writing and read their terms and conditions before signing anything

If you happen to find you will be dealing with a Conveyancer who is not a fully qualified Solicitor/Licenced Conveyancer/Legal Executive ( sorry Tiimmyt) remember that some of them have been doing the job for so long they know full well what they are doing.[/QUOTE]

I agree with the blue bit if they are 15 years + but why instruct when you can have an actual conveyancing solicitor for the same price, often cheaper and otherwise rarely much more.....though we shall only be recruiting solicitors and legal executives for all new employees.

pete1717

You are so sad timmyt you are hardly worth the effort.

But for all Licensed Conveyancers out there and for the benefit of posters who should remain informed ( despite your efforts to blinker them) I will reply to your boring rants

There are very many firms out there who for years have regarded Licensed Conveyancers as a threat, and still do. You are clearly one of them and I have a very strong feeling that it is a LC who has caught you out in the past with some bad conveyancing work and which is why you have such hatred for them.

If you are so intent on keeping posters informed then they should know that Licensed Conveyancers are fully trained property lawyers
who specialise only in conveyancing.

You clearly have a problem with LCs so please take this up with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers - call them up and ask them why they are there ; why they set up so that they actually get clients that you want ; why they have done this to you ( sob, sob!!) - making you sit up until all hours every night and waste most of your day ranting and raving about non solicitors, non legal executives etc. and all those poor people out there who might end up with the office cleaner if they dont take your advice

As I have said before, you are correct to advise people to be careful who they employ to deal with the most important financial transaction they will every be likely to undertake but stop this silly ranting about LCs

A lesson for you timmy whatever you are (though a Solicitor is doubtful)
Solicitors are qualified
Licensed Conveyancers are qualified
Legal Executives are qualified
But that doesnt make any of us perfect -We are all human -including you ! (Unless you know different?)

So, if you can justify your comments about Licensed Conveyancers please feel free - otherwise SHUT UP !

Richard_Webster

I am a solicitor and sole practitioner. I am on the panels of all the major lenders (including Santander and Bank of Ireland) - Co-op/Britannia is the largest one that causes me problems. I ask potential client who their lender will be and if it is one I can't act for then I suggest they go somewhere else to start with.

I am open officially from 9-5 Mondays to Fridays. I have 2 staff. If a client needs to come and see me after those hours I can usually arrange it. I am usually at the office well after 5 and can respond to e-mails etc then.

In general terms I agree with that fees much under £500 + VAT are too cheap. If there isn't a lot of work around I will go under that figure to get work, as it is better to have some than none. If I am busy then the fees increase. If Pete1717 can make a profit out of doing the work for £400, fine.

What I think we all agree about it is that it is wrong to suck people in with promises of apparently low fees like "Conveyancing on Purchase: £249 + VAT". Buyer thinks that's all he has to pay.

In the small print they tell you that you will also have to pay the fee for doing the work for the lender which will be the figure set out in Section 8 of the Mortgage Offer (varies between about £120 and £800) but in any event it will not be less than £150 + VAT. You don't see that bit, but, Oh dear, you've signed their terms and condition.

Then there's completing the SDLT form £75 + VAT. You aren't paying SDLT because you are a FTB so you assume that doesn't apply. It does.

The small print will probably also refer to an expedition fee for completing in less than 14 or 21 days - say £100 + VAT. Most completions take place within that timescale and if you are in a chain it will be difficult to resist the requirements of others to complete in say 7-10 days from exchange and you will have to pay the extra fee, but when you read it,(if you read it) you probably didn't think it would apply!

So in that kind of scenario you get £249 fee + maybe £160 for mortgage work (if Nat West/Royal Bank more likely £500+) + £75 for SDLT form + £100 expedition fee = £584 + VAT and they thought it was cheap.

Pete1717 says he will do it for £400 and I would be more than that, depending on price, whether leasehold/freehold, and anticipated complexity or lack of it.

The latest scam I've seen - I think further up in this thread - is "Land Registry Administration fee: £100."

I think sniping at Licensed Conveyancers as such is not fair. The two practices I know near Southampton are both well respected locally.

Then there is SDLT, Land Registry fees and Search Fees.

I try to be upfront with what is probably the worst case scenario on searches and say that some lenders do not require all searches and so sometimes savings can be made and I invite the client to tell me if they want to only have the minimum searches.

timmyt

pete1717 wrote: »

You are so sad timmyt you are hardly worth the effort. good grief, bit personal

But for all Licensed Conveyancers sorry I didn't mention them in any post I can recall I dont think... I just make the point that dont fall short of paying for the best - a conveyancing solicitor and legal executive are widely trained in other areas of law where home buying impacts....wills, family, business, employment the list goes on - rather than the whole range of people who think they are good at conveyancing out there and for the benefit of posters who should remain informed ( despite your efforts to blinker them) I will reply to your boring rants

There are very many firms out there who for years have regarded Licensed Conveyancers as a threat, and still do. You anyone less than solicitor or legal executive does not get recruited to my Team, I could recruit them easily I guess are clearly one of them and I have a very strong feeling that it is a LC who has caught caught? I am paid to be right you out you dont get caught out in conveyancing by lawyers, not Law Law you know in the past with some bad conveyancing work and which is why you have such hatred haven't said anything about them for them.

If you are so intent on keeping posters informed then they should know that Licensed Conveyancers are fully trained property lawyers
who specialise only indeed they only do in conveyancing. like Will writers :eek:

You clearly have a problem with LCs no, i don't think I have ever mentioned them so please take this up with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers - call them up and ask them why they are there ; why they set up so that they actually get clients that you want ; why they have done this to you ( sob, sob!!) - making you sit up until all hours every night and waste most of your day ranting and raving about non solicitors, non legal executives etc. and all those poor people out there who might end up with the office cleaner if they dont take your advice

As I have said before, you are correct to advise people to be careful who they employ to deal with the most important financial transaction they will every be likely to undertake but stop this silly ranting about LCs LCs...er, sorry not mentioned them did I...you are ranting. Are you one? Why not go the whole way and become a solicitor...your Firm will support you surely?

A lesson for you timmy whatever you are (though a Solicitor is doubtful)
Solicitors are qualified
Licensed Conveyancers are qualified
Legal Executives are qualified
But that doesnt make any of us perfect -We are all human -including you ! (Unless you know different?)

So, if you can justify your comments about Licensed Conveyancers I cannot read where I have said anything about them please feel free - otherwise SHUT UP well well, your discussion groups would have been scary at school!

as in red but thanks for reading