Conveyancing quote - heading upwards quickly

Fleeb

Hi, I'm a FTB and I've just instructed a solicitor to handle the purchase of a £105000 house.

I got a quote from an online conveyancing company (picked both because it seemed a fairly reasonable price and the solicitors behind the online service happen to have an office in my home town).

The online site proudly proclaimed "No hidden extras - guaranteed", adding:
No redemption fee
No move, no legal fee
No indemnity contribution
No additional mortgage fees if using a bank or building society

The quote was for £794, with local search fee not included - I looked that up separately, the local authority charges £90. So basically £880ish. Seemed competetive to me.

However they have now sent the documents to sign, together with a revised quote. Three things immediately stood out:

1. They have added an extra £60 Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Fee to the quote.

2. They charge an extra fee of £120 if completion takes place within 8 days of exchange of contracts. As this apparently requires extra work on their behalf.

3. They require £325 on account before they will proceed (not mentioned anywhere on the website).

So the cost has just hit £943 with the added SDLT return fee, or £1063 if a quick completion is required. They haven't actually done anything yet and they've already exceeded their quote and, to my mind, broken their "no hidden fees - guaranteed" claim twice.

I'd be very grateful if anybody with recent experience of the conveyancing process could give me their thoughts on the following:

Is the new £950ish cost a fair price for handling the sale of a £105k freehold house purchase?

Is charging an extra fee for completion within 8 days of exchange of contracts usual and reasonable?

Similarly is the request for money on account standard practice?

Finally, they added a Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Fee to the quote - is it possible to handle a house sale without having to complete a SDLT return? If not then it is a standard fee which should be included in all the quotes, and as such, they'd be breaking at least the spirit of their "no hidden fee" claims, no?

I can still walk away and find someone else at this point, but if what they are doing is standard practice and the fees still seem reasonable then there doesn't seem much point. Any advice gratefully received.

tim123456789

There's 190 pound Land registry fee as well :rotfl:

Look, all of these extras (except the 8 day completion charge) are extras that you are going to have to pay whoever you used.

When comparing what the Sol is quoting you just look at their fee, as that is the only bit that's going to change.

Having said that, 794 is more than I've been quoted so you can probably get better if you look around

Yorkie1

I would get quotes elsewhere - unless you've signed and returned the current documents, you have not instructed these conveyancers and, as you've already found, what they initially tell you is not what they finally charge.

Ring a couple of local solicitors on Monday, preferably ones you can get a personal recommendation about but otherwise look for one with a conveyancing specialism. Tell them who your mortgage is with, and ask them for a quote. They can email it out to you if you want.

Get a feel for them, then compare the detail (come back on here if you want), before you accept one of them.

shonzyd

Just to give you an idea, mines costing £810 in all. No extra costs unless agreed with me before hand. Property cost is £125k.

The quick completion fee I wouldnt trust that at all.

G_M

Fleeb wrote: »

1. They have added an extra £60 Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Fee to the quote. This is cheeky. It is a standard part of the job and should be included in the basic fee.

2. They charge an extra fee of £120 if completion takes place within 8 days of exchange of contracts. As this apparently requires extra work on their behalf.
Some, not all, do this. There IS extra work, and prioritisation, though a week is normal. They've made it '8 days' so as to catch more clients with this extra! Why not Complete 9 days later?

3. They require £325 on account before they will proceed (not mentioned anywhere on the website). Absolutley normal.


... is it possible to handle a house sale without having to complete a SDLT return?
No. Though you could do it yourself. There again, you could do ALL the conveyancing yourslef. Why employ a solicitor and then have them only do part of the job...?

When shopping arund, read this here.

thelem

It's really important to trust your conveyancer, and could you trust someone who has so blatently lied about hidden fees? Whatever the cost, I'd be going elsewhere.

Fleeb

Thanks for your replies. I'll start looking for new solicitors.