solicitor for buying a house

vik1491

I have just been quoted £495 + VAT legal fees by movewithus. From the prices Ive seen quoted at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=103499 it doesnt seem to good. Would you agree?

vik1491

on legalmove.com I have been quoted £197 + VAT. But it says 'our fee for your purchase'. What does this mean. Is this quotation the legal fees?

Richard_Webster

Are you getting a mortgage? If so, I think you'll find Legalmove charge another £115 + VAT for the legal work for the mortgage and and a further £75 + VAT for completing the SDLT Form - you need to click on "View the Detailed Quote" and look at their "Supplemental Fees".


As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients

vik1491

Are all of these searches mandatory? Can I not avoid the local/drainage/environmental search. Also can I not complete the SDLT form myself

Phirefly

We've used Abode https://www.abodeconveyancing.co.uk who have instructed Beaumont Legal (Abode have a panel of firms who they refer cases to). I'm reserving judgement till we complete but so far so good.

The environmental search is optional and we opted out because I've lived in the area all my life and we've lived in the property we're buying for 2 years already.

I know the general consensus is you pay for what you get and the cheapest might not be the best but we chose them because our purchase is extremely straightforward so our priority was getting the cheapest possible fee. Their quote was all-inclusive and the cheapest my FAR of all my quotes (and I got loads) I liked the way all the fees and disbursements were clearly itemised and the assurances that the price we were being quoted was the price we'd pay and that they are no completion - no fee. They have an online case trace facility. I was sceptical about this but sure enough I can log in and see when our file has been updated and where we're at.

As I say, we've yet to complete so I'm not going to sing their praises yet, but so far so good. Might be worth you getting a quote

vik1491

your right they are very clear on their prices. Do you know how they compare to cheapcheapconveyancing.co.uk?

Phirefly

I think I ran a quote with cheap conveyancing too but abode still came out cheapest. I think the only one cheaper was conveyancingwarehouse but I think it was only cheaper by less than £50 and by that time it was getting urgent and we had to make a decision on the spot and Abode's charges just seemed clearer.

vik1491

phirefly you read my mind. I was just about to state that conveyancing-warehouse.com are cheaper but their charges are not as clear as abode. I have just posted an email to conveyancing-warehouse asking them if their quote includes all of the charges which abode have specified. Has anybody had any experience of dealing with either conveyers. Also Phirefly can you please keep me posted on how your experience with abode goes. thanks

Phirefly

Will do. I'm conducting a little test today, we had our mortgage offer yesterday evening (woop) so I'm going to monitor our abode case trace to see how long it takes to update with this new information. I'll keep you posted!

Phirefly

Well they passed that test with flying colours, the case trace was updated with our mortgage offer received before we'd even had the paperwork form the lenders. Thumbs up so far...

lianne1978

Well I am seriously considering using these or the firm recommended by my trade union, there is about 40 pounds difference between them both. We have just cancelled with our current solicitor who was charging a massive 1600 when abode and trade union can do it for around 1050. She wants 200 pounds for a failed sale but even so we would still be quids in! Just a bit nervous as they are online!