FTB solicitor fees

Goldust

Hi,

I've agreed a price on a propertly for £140k and now trying to find a solicitor. I'm a FTB and it's a single application.

I went to two local places who quoted me between £900-£1000 though I've had email quotes for half that.

Am I missing something? Also I want to get it moving quickly - would like to complete by mid-February so do I need to factor that in when using a budget conveyancer. What price should I be looking for?

Thanks!

FireWyrm

You'll be starting another 'spirited' conversation with that question. The truth is, that like anything in life you have ti buy, there are the cheap Morris minor versions and the truly eye watering Porsche versions. Personally, I've used a budget 'conveyancing house' twice so far and not encountered any problems what so ever. Perhaps I was just lucky. There are some on here who will advise you to get a full gown and wig jobbie to do the work, but they ain't cheap as you have discovered. How much of a risk are you prepared to take...personally, I just read and double checked everything and bugged the hell out of my guy with questions until I was happy. It cost me £350ish for his time. Conveyancing isn't hard, it's the nuances that catch people flat footed, so if your sale is complicated, or unusual, I'd go for the more pricy option. If its a straight up sale of a bog standard house, you'll probably be just fine with a conveyancing warehouse.

Yorkie1

Have you only just had your offer accepted?

Do you know whether there is a chain?

Aiming to be in by mid-Feb is a highly unrealistic timescale for the majority of transactions. Nothing much will happen now until the start of January, which gives you 6 weeks.

One of the complaints encountered on here from those who have used cheaper online conveyancing factories is that nobody 'owns' your file and therefore isn't available either to answer questions or to push things along.

FireWyrm

Yorkie is right up to a point. Like I said, perhaps I was just lucky, but I had a name, a telephone number and a direct email address both times.

johnnyloco

hey fyreworm, who was i you went with? can pm me if you like.

thanks

Goldust

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Have you only just had your offer accepted?

Do you know whether there is a chain?

Aiming to be in by mid-Feb is a highly unrealistic timescale for the majority of transactions. Nothing much will happen now until the start of January, which gives you 6 weeks.

One of the complaints encountered on here from those who have used cheaper online conveyancing factories is that nobody 'owns' your file and therefore isn't available either to answer questions or to push things along.

Yes offer accepted today. There is no chain - they guy is moving to a property he is kitting out and he said he aims to be out by the end of January so no reason why I can't do it in 6 weeks.

Yorkie1

Well the omens are in your favour, but paperwork often takes longer than you think - searches have to be done, surveys considered, queries raised and answered.

Good luck but don't let anything crucial ride on your being in by mid-Feb. If you are in rented accommodation at present, do not give notice until you have exchanged - even if it means you paying an overlap in rent. There have been too many threads on here from people who gave notice prematurely with confidence, and then things fell apart unexpectedly for some reason, leaving them homeless.

**curlywurly**

OP, I would check what the quotes include. Does the cheaper one include all the relevant searches and other disbursements? Make sure you are comparing like for like!

Goldust

**curlywurly** wrote: »

OP, I would check what the quotes include. Does the cheaper one include all the relevant searches and other disbursements? Make sure you are comparing like for like!

Thanks - I need to check this as I'm not convinced the cheaper ones are fully inclusive but I haven't called them yet. Hopefully they will be open tomorrow morning!

Yorkie - I'm not hanging my hat on the timings as I'm living with my folks at the moment. I've got a week off in the middle of February which was a target week but that's all and I can move that if needs be.

Richard_Webster

who quoted me between £900-£1000

Is this just for the professional services or does it include Land Registry fees, Searches etc?

We keep getting people coming on this site with sort of question and it is never clear what the figure they give actually represents.

The LR fee if £200 and depending on the area you can expect to pay £50-£250+ for the local search, quite apart form any other searches. If you take a mid figure of £150 then that's £350 off making it £550-£650, which if you include VAT is about right. If the LR Fees and searches were not included then it is too high.

Goldust

Hi Richard,

It's fully inclusive. The fees cover conveyancing, legal work and the land transaction return plus the additional charges for a legal search, drainage search, environment search, final searches, bank transfer fee and land registry fee.

Apparently that is all I need...