Do these solicitors fees sound about right?

gabyjane

Ok we are first time shared ownership buyers and this is our situation at the mo, the financial advisor told us that if we were quoted anymore than £800 we were probably getting ripped off, these are the quotes from my partners brothers solicitors:

Conveyancing: £450

Local search: £120

Envioromental search: £140

Land registry: £50

Bank charges: £30

Inland Rev notice: £50

On top of that the £475 for thir personal fees as a solicitor.

This totals: £1335 so well over...apparantly it's the same with every solicitors (as my partners brother works for one) you use but we are going to get 2 more quotes on Monday, just wondered if that seemed right and if there was anything missing!

Thanks.

inmypocketnottheirs

All of the fees other than conveyancing are standard disbursements, although the bank charges can vary. The fee for conveyancing is the actual cost for the job they do. However I am not sure what you mean by personal fees. I would ask if the conveyancing fee is the cost for doing the work, then what is the personal fee for.

Other than that, TBH it is about average. Did the advisors indication of £800 include disbursements (unlikely), and if not then it is about right. Dont forget that VAT will also be added.

Wait now for the House Price Crash brigade to come along and tell you what a mug you are for buying now and to wait for the imminent price crash!!!

Madjock

why are they charging a fee for the conveyancing then a solicitor's fee on top?
I would get some other quotes.

clutton_2

are you paying for the other sides legal fees also in this list - if so, its about right - but shop around ?

gabyjane

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

All of the fees other than conveyancing are standard disbursements, although the bank charges can vary. The fee for conveyancing is the actual cost for the job they do. However I am not sure what you mean by personal fees. I would ask if the conveyancing fee is the cost for doing the work, then what is the personal fee for.

Other than that, TBH it is about average. Did the advisors indication of £800 include disbursements (unlikely), and if not then it is about right. Dont forget that VAT will also be added.

Wait now for the House Price Crash brigade to come along and tell you what a mug you are for buying now and to wait for the imminent price crash!!!

Ah thankyou, i may have doubled that coneyancing bit then by mistake, my other half rung and i just added it on as he hadnt put it down and i thought he may have forgot, hopefully we may be able to knock it down a bit then if that is the case!! the quotes coming in the post but i'm too impatient!! Also as for the housing crash, yes im awaiting the 'you should have waited bit!' tbh we have been wanting to buy somewhere for as long as i remember, we have been given a chance of a brand new home which is very affordable so are snapping it up, i really couldn't care if the rates rise as we havent stretched ourselves!!
Thankyou again for the reply.

gabyjane

Madjock wrote: »

why are they charging a fee for the conveyancing then a solicitor's fee on top?
I would get some other quotes.

As i said above maybe that's my mistake!! hopefully eah!

gabyjane

clutton wrote: »

are you paying for the other sides legal fees also in this list - if so, its about right - but shop around ?

No we aren't we are moving into a new home that isn't built yet so no chain as such!! Does that mean you think it's high! Am seniding other half down into town monday to investigate others!!

xycom1

To add to what others have said about duplication possibly of solicitors+conveyancing fees, I would point out that I recently paid £130 for my searches and only £45 on top of that for environmental search fee.

Madjock

Search fees vary enormously depending on the area you are buying in.

I would absolutely check and question if they are charging a conveyancing fee and a personal fee on top.

Richard_Webster

Make sure the solicitors know it is shared ownership, because if it is, the fees look on the low side.

£140 for an environmental search seems rather over the top - more like £35-£45.

Also if you are buying a new property half share and therefore a new lease, then if the market value of the property (100%) exceeds £125,000 (in some areas £150,000) then you will have to pay some stamp duty land tax (SDLT) even though your half share's value is under the threshold. There are a number of threads on this e.g http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=5173168&highlight=shared+ownership+stamp+duty#post5173168

If it is an existing half share that you are buying you will only pay (or not pay) SDLT on the amount you actually pay, but if you "staircase" (buy further shares) then you can find a nasty catch with having to pay the tax at that point!

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

gabyjane

Hi Richard thanks for the reply, i am beginning to think that the origional quote was quite good compared to what ive just heard! just rung another solicitor and hes added these things...

Drainage: £45.83
Enviro search: £ 44.65
credit search: £2.00
developers fee: £75+ vat
service charge: £200
freeholders fee: £35.00+vat
His conveyancing was £500+vat and he'd knocked it down a lot!

plus the stamp duty he made as £1650 even though i told him we were paying 1% of the share of what we were buying which to me and others is £612..almost 3k for him and he didnt sound too sure!!

Really confused now and worried we are going to get stung with loads of extra costs along the line...waiting to hear back from another and will go from there. Will read that thread later thankyou.