Am I being ripped off?

Bkitner

After months of getting nowhere I'm finally on the verge of getting my own place. I've just had a letter from my solicitor regarding charges for Conveyancing costs and Disbursements

They are:

Purchase Fee £350
Telegraphin Transfer Fee £30
Photocopying contribution £10
SDLT £25
VAT £83
Local Authority Search £77
Drainage Search £41
commons Registration £5
Land Registry Search £3
Land Registration Fee £70
Bankruptcy Search £2

The property is new build and having worked in the building trade in the past and still have friends in the business most of these have to be done before the property is built

princeofpounds

What on earth are you talking about? Your solicitor acts for you and your mortgage company. He has a duty to do due diligence, not rely on what searches the developer (i.e. THE SELLER) tells him about.

chickaroonee

Looks cheap to me.

Smith_007

Bkitner wrote: »

most of these have to be done before the property is built

True.
But do you trust them? After all, the [STRIKE]used car dealer[/STRIKE] bloke selling you the house says everything is OK, so it must be true. Right?

The alternative is you pay your own solicitor a few hundred quid, to protect your own HOME that cost you tens of thousands.

You don't have too.
But if you don't, you are a braver man than me, because you may find yourself homeless, £1000's poorer, and have absolutely no comeback.

Your call.

Bkitner

Thanks for the replies - feeling completely out of my depth here

Smith_007

Bkitner wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - feeling completely out of my depth here

S'okay. It's normal.
Just remember that you are paying your solicitor for advice. They are there to help you. You are paying them well for their advice, so make sure you ask lots of questions and get answers to your satisfaction.
:beer:

G_M

No. Your solicitor has a duty to undertake searches for you, his client. Not rely on searches done in the past for 'the other side' (seller).

I would be moreconcerned about the 'extras' which should be included in his basic puchase fee.

* photocopying???!! I'm surprised he isn't adding a charge for printer ink and repairs to his PC!

* SDLT? This is just a standard part of conveyancing a property.

However, doubtless you will find these charges hidden somewhere in his Terms and Conditions of Business which you signed up to. And which helped him show you a nice low £350 purchase fee which was cheaper than his competitors....

BazzaDP

G_M wrote: »

However, doubtless you will find these charges hidden somewhere in his Terms and Conditions of Business which you signed up to. And which helped him show you a nice low £350 purchase fee which was cheaper than his competitors....

Well exactly. You could argue he's charging for ridiculous things like photocopying which should be included, or that he's being transparent with what he's charging you for. Some people would prefer this breakdown, some would find it confusing and prefer just one figure.

Ultimately it doesn't matter, only the total (which at £696 is reasonable). That is unless he hooked you in with the £350 quote and you thought it included all this.

Bkitner, not worry. House buying is very poorly understood. Use this website to ask questions and get help. Just be aware that if you put "rip off" or "scam" in the title, and it's not then people will jump on your back. Better to use less inflammatory phrasing if unsure.

_Andy_

You can either look at stuff like £10 for photocopying and let it bother you, or look at the overall cost, which is pretty reasonable.

Moonraker71

My fees are 600+vat plus disbursements PLUS:

£40+vat for "additional stationery" if beyond what is 'reasonably expected'
£50+vat for "additional phone calls" if beyond what is 'reasonably expected'
£75+vat for filling in the SDLT form
£75+vat if required to set up any indemnity policies
£95+vat if want to exchange and complete in less than 10 days

And that's just my purchase. Same again on my sale. I'm basically looking at £2.5-3k+ all in.

I got 4 local quotes here (in Brighton). All more or less within £100-£200 of each other. In the end went with word-of-mouth recommendation. So far they have been great, replied to every call, email within an hour. But by god, I am paying for it.

Only saving grace is that I sold through an online agency so saved about £3.2k on EA fees.