Can you haggle with solicitor for conveyancing?

hieveryone

Hi all,

Partner and I are looking to buy a house. It is significantly bigger/more expensive than our current one and so the solicitors fees/stamp duty are coming in at about £4000 :eek:

Can you haggle with the solicitors for their part of the fees at all? Don't want to phone up and sound like a fool!

Thanks in advance!

G_M

Yes, but I'd go in and do it face to face.

Shop around first so you have comparisons to quote.

When shopping around, watch out for hidden extras. Read:

http://www.theadvisory.co.uk/conveyancing-quote.php

Macadamia

Yes - in my experience you can.

Or rather, not exactly haggle but you can let them know you are getting quotes/ estimates for the work from a number of solicitors.
I did this some years ago - and while one was surprised - others did not bat an eyelid.

Good luck.

JimmyTheWig

If there is anything about your situation that you think will mean less work for the solicitors (e.g. you don't need a mortgage) then be sure to mention this when haggling.

hieveryone

Thanks all.

The fee he has given me he has offered to 'cap' at just shy of £4k. I assume I would get this in writing so that no other fees can be added?

Plus points?
- it is one of the 'recommended' solicitors from the builder?
- it is a new build property - no onward chain? (not sure if that is a bonus?)
- we won't need home report etc as the builder of new house is doing it all - estate agency fees etc.

We do need a mortgage and will be using a broker for this.

Can't really think of anything else that would go in our favour really?

chanz4

hieveryone wrote: »

Thanks all.

The fee he has given me he has offered to 'cap' at just shy of £4k. I assume I would get this in writing so that no other fees can be added?

Plus points?
- it is one of the 'recommended' solicitors from the builder?
- it is a new build property - no onward chain? (not sure if that is a bonus?)
- we won't need home report etc as the builder of new house is doing it all - estate agency fees etc.

We do need a mortgage and will be using a broker for this.

Can't really think of anything else that would go in our favour really?

Don't use the builders on, trust me I regret it and myn was a well known solicitors

hieveryone

chanz4 wrote: »

Don't use the builders on, trust me I regret it and myn was a well known solicitors

Thank you - and I have read this before. However, I live in a pretty small town and the list of 'approved' solicitors is pretty substantial, so not leaving me with many options out with it!

What made you regret it?

googler

Given that you can't haggle on the Stamp Duty, what is this amount, or what is the remaining solicitor fee after you deduct the SD from the £4000 ???

Thrugelmir

hieveryone wrote: »

Partner and I are looking to buy a house. It is significantly bigger/more expensive than our current one and so the solicitors fees/stamp duty are coming in at about £4000 :eek:

Can you haggle with the solicitors for their part of the fees at all? Don't want to phone up and sound like a fool!

Majority of costs and disbursements are fixed. The solicitors fees make up a relatively small part of the total bill.

Don't haggle for a smaller fee then endlessly hassle your solicitor during the transaction. As it could come back to bite you.

hieveryone

googler wrote: »

Given that you can't haggle on the Stamp Duty, what is this amount, or what is the remaining solicitor fee after you deduct the SD from the £4000 ???

Stamp Duty is £2150

The two I liked best were £1845 and £1920 fee wise.

kingstreet

£1,850 for legal costs for a purchase alone? Nothing to sell?

That's a lot for a £215,000 purchase. I'd expect about £650 + VAT + disbursements or around £1,200 to £1,300 in total.

For the difference, you could get a chauffeur driven limo to one of the firms we use in the Midlands and still have some change left over...