Offer Accepted

Catty212

We've had an offer accepted on a house today.
We have got £12,500 knocked off the asking price (property does need some work, upstairs heating, bathroom, kitchen etc) We made an offer a few months back which was rejected. The estate agent contacted us last week asking if we were still interested, which we were, as the sellers were wanting a quickish sale (property is empty, old lady has gone into a care home they were considering taking a lower offer.

We're first time buyers. And basically need a bit of advice with what happens next. Estate agent says we need to let them know of our solicitor as soon as possible (currently we don't have one). Not sure where to start online. We will contact mortgage broker tomorrow and start application for the mortgage itself.

What do we do next?

lucylooby123

instruct a solicitor, and get your mortgage kicked off. Solicitor needs to contact their solicitor etc, then the mortgage process starts (bank to underwriters to valuation) and solicitors then take over again. You also need to decide wether to have a full survey done with your valuation or not. You need your fees all ready to leave your bank as they'll want to take payments asap. Good luck! We're just past the valuation stage (took 6 weeks to get this far).

Catty212

Thank you for that. Will ring Mortgage man tomorrow. Looking online currently for solicitor quotes - just not sure whats reasonable.We will be having a full survey for peace of mind - house was built in 1900's

gaz141

i am in the process of buying. My solicitor is charging me inclusive of all searches and fees £1265.00 incl VAT. don't know if that is good or not

lucylooby123

we had the full survey / homebuyers thing done and it was about £600, the basic valuation was £200 so we felt it was money well spent.
We got a quote from a local solicitor and one online, the local was pricier but we'd heard good things about them being fast which we felt was worth paying for. All in, I think it was around the £700 mark.

Catty212

Thaks for that. We will ring Mortgage man tomorrow. We've been looking at solicitors costs online just not sure whats reasonable and a little worried that its a saturday and many wont be open to ring. We will be having full survey for peace of mind as house is pretty old.

Catty212

gaz141 wrote: »

i am in the process of buying. My solicitor is charging me inclusive of all searches and fees £1265.00 incl VAT. don't know if that is good or not

I think thats quite a lot. We have quotes from £200 - £900. Just not sure of whats the best. Cheaper may be worse?

Catty212

Catty212 wrote: »

Thaks for that. We will ring Mortgage man tomorrow. We've been looking at solicitors costs online just not sure whats reasonable and a little worried that its a saturday and many wont be open to ring. We will be having full survey for peace of mind as house is pretty old.

Repeated myself as I thought my first message hadnt posted. oop s:p

gaz141

what i'm being charged

the solicitor fee is £695.00 plus VAT of £139.00
Land Registry fees £ 200.00
Land Registry Search fee £ 6.00
Land Charges Search fee £ 2.00
Local Search, Water Search &
Environmental Search £ 190.00

total £1268.00

cattie

gaz141 wrote: »

what i'm being charged the solicitor fee is £695.00 plus VAT of £139.00

That solicitor fee sounds very high to me. I'd be shopping around to find something more reasonable. Always best to get 2 or 3 quotes as the solicitor fees can vary greatly and is the one to compare. All the rest of the charges are pretty standard.

Gonzo33

My solicitor charges approximately the same as gaz141's.

I have used him for business and personal use lots and lots of times over the last 5 years, and I would pay the extra every time.

If I didn't know him so well I would probably shop around though.