Solicitor's fees

tilamok

Hi
Can you help me out ?

I am in the process of buying a flat and I am hiring the solicitors recommended by the estate agents.
My initial quote for evrything was £499 but then since it's a leasehold it's changed to £699
Fair enough but then I find out that I should add vat. So that's another £130
But now I have received another quote from the solicitors and the quote has changed to £1000 + possibly £300 more for other searches

Am I being ripped off? What are the normal solicitor's costs including all so-called searches?

Thanks

Hippychick

Don't necessarily use the solicitors recommended by the agents, there are cheaper ones out there, maybe ask around locally for some recommendations of a good reasonably priced solicitor.

I wouldn't however ncessarily go for the rock bottom cheapest firm, you do get what you pay for.

A leasehold supplement is quite common due to the extra amount of work involved in a leasehold transaction. Searches I am afraid are unavoidable, the solicitors don't set the cost for those it will be the local authority etc who stipulate the search fee.

ginandtonic1988

Local Search between £70-£200 depending on council and drainage £40ish, most lenders want both local and drainage, if you are buying a new build only local needed. If no lender involved you do want you want, I would recommend a local and draingage though.

All other searches are non-compulsary.

ginandtonic1988

Local Search between £70-£200 depending on council and drainage £40ish, most lenders want both local and drainage, if you are buying a new build only local needed. If no lender involved you do want you want, I would recommend a local and draingage though.

All other searches are non-compulsary.

AKK_3

Hi,

I can recommend my solictor. Hammonds Direct, PO Box 41, Bradford BD1 5UZ. Tel: 0845 240 5712

The solictor was part of my mortgage deal, the lender paid some of the costs. According to the documents the lender paid about £300 of the costs.

I paid around £600 myself, £250 up front before they start any work e.g searches.

Total costs - £900. This is still £300 cheaper than most of the quotes I was getting.

A

Richard_Webster

As a conveyancing solicitor I would say it is usually best to use a local firm recommended to you by someone you know - or phone around for quotes (which you should get in writing before making up your mind) or look at their websites.

Watch out for all the extras put in the small print to make the top line fee figure look lower than it really is - the "Money Laundering Compliance Fee", the "optional extra" fee for completing the Stamp Duty Land Tax Form - it's an optional extra because a buyer can do it himself but usually will get very confused, so it is unfair having it as an option. There's also the "Leasehold Fee", the fee for "acting for the lender", the "professional indemnity contribution", and the amazingly round figure for telephone calls and postages.

Some websites hide these in the small print on "Terms & Conditions" pages so you need to look through them all.

Estate agents often get kick backs (which you pay for) from the firms they recommend and they are often at the other end of the country in an industrial unit on the edge of a town.

alanobrien

That price sounds very high. There are a number of fixed price solicitors around these days such as;

http://www.brownssolicitors.co.uk/index.htm

Shop around you will get a better deal.

tilamok

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

Does anyone know if a solicitor once instructed will charge me if I say I am going to use a different solicitor?

Note that I haven't paid anything nor filled any documents. I just instructed them

Cheers