First time buyers, started using Country Wide but having doubts..

silk_2

Hiya

We have started to use a Country Wide broker and yesterday we got our MIP and a detailed list of what we can expect all the fees to be.

They sounded a bit high to me so I did my usual homework over at MSE.. only to find CW are apparently horrible/slow at conveyancing. So I'm thinking we should back the heck away.. so far I've spent £79 on their "buy Smart" but happy to cut my losses.

Here's what I work out the differences to be based on her list and the advice found on MSE (with a stamp of 2500).

CW: 5706
MSE(min): 4700
MSE(max): 5300

The biggest differences are her quotes for conveyancing.. 1099 on completion, well above the 500-800 MSE suggests. Also she quotes the valuation at 430 as opposed to 300 (MSE).

It isn't just about the costs though, I'm honestly a bit spooked after reading about CW on these forums.

Has anyone dealt with other brokers who they could recommend? Or is it better to do it all manually, sorting out your own conveyancing and dealing with the banks direct? :eek:

Racml34

Are her quotes for conveyancing just the legal costs? Or do they include disbursements, search fees etc. if they are inclusive then I would say that's reasonable. We got several quotes. Most were around £500 plus vat for legal work then extra for disbursements. We ended up paying around £1200 in total.

silk_2

Racml34 wrote: »

Are her quotes for conveyancing just the legal costs? Or do they include disbursements, search fees etc. if they are inclusive then I would say that's reasonable. We got several quotes. Most were around £500 plus vat for legal work then extra for disbursements. We ended up paying around £1200 in total.

I don't see a mention of disbursements..

There is a separate upfront fee for searches of 400.
An arrangement fee of 199 (total).

Racml34

I have no knowledge of Countrywide as we used an IFA who did not charge us. His fee was paid by the mortgage lender. I can only speak for our own purchase which completed a few weeks ago.

We purchased just under stamp duty. We paid approx £1200 in total to solicitor including searches, transfer fees etc. we also paid a mortgage arrangement fee of £499 although obviously this varies by lender. Only other fee was survey that I can think of.

We got quotes from 3 different solicitors and they all are in about the same. I did not want to use anyone recommended by the Estate Agent etc as I felt they may not be really independent.

A friend who used Countrywide has said she wishes she had used a local firm as she felt they did not really work very hard for her but I'm sure there are others who would disagree.

I just think it's advisable to do your homework before you accept her costings

bebewoo

Don't use Countrywide unless you have a very patient vendor who is prepared to wait for months and months and months - maybe longer.............and answer dozens and dozens of questions spaced out over those months, sometimes several times the same question weeks apart.
I am that patient vendor, five months in now, my patience is getting wafer thin.
In short avoid.

silk_2

bebewoo wrote: »

Don't use Countrywide unless you have a very patient vendor who is prepared to wait for months and months and months - maybe longer.............and answer dozens and dozens of questions spaced out over those months, sometimes several times the same question weeks apart.
I am that patient vendor, five months in now, my patience is getting wafer thin.
In short avoid.

Are they always slow or it just when there are unforseen obstacles?

Riobhca

We started down the CW route but like yourselves, on further investigation became spooked and went elsewhere.

We didn't get as far as the CW conveyancing, it was the CW mortgage broker that put us off. Her fee's were laughable and we very easily found ourselves a much better offer with no fee for a mortgage broker.

In short, our conveyancing for a large 4 bed property by a trusted solicitor is £485, plus all the various fee's which takes it to about £822 inc VAT. This is just for conveyancing. The Other fee's we have to pay are stamp duty and then the mortgage arrangement fee of £499.

We saved £200 by sacking the CW mortgage broker off. Had her advice been useful then it may have been £200 well spent, but it wasn't.