Solicitors approx. cost buying & selling?

gatita

We are thinking of moving from our current property bungalow worth approx £255.000 owned outright no mortgage straight forward property.
We want to downsize and have seen a flat £140.000 999years lease, plus a share of the freehold divided between the 4 flats.
I went into a firm of solicitors today and was flabbergasted at the fee's!!
Maybe I am living in a time warp!!! I would really appreciate an idea into costs. Oh yes, I am in S. Devon

tea-bag

About £1500 including searches and no problems.

Malmo

Obtain like-for-like quotes for a number of solicitors that can do the conveyancing tasks for both the property you wish to purchase and the sale of your property. Then choose one that you are comfortable with. Avoid solicitors recommended by your or their estate agent as the agent will receive a commission / referral fee / kickback, which will inflate the cost to you.

Have a look at this article for a breakdown of the solicitor / conveyancing costs that you should review and query when comparing quotes.

Annie1960

I've just paid £4,500 for sale and purchase, in Herfordshire.

rosie383

Our price is similar to tea-bag's rather than Annie's.

gatita

Thank you all for your comments, and a special thank you to Malmo for taking all that trouble in giving me such detailed information.
Gosh am I glad I won't have to pay what Annie did, my heart stops at the thought lol

nubbins

Hi Gatita,

I've always found "local firms" to be very expensive. This day and age you don't have to live near the solicitor nor do you have to meet them.

I posted this a few weeks ago....

I used RMNJ for a BTL at 429K, they were pretty good apart from a little hiccup due to mail size's and zip files. Their headline figure of £349 obviously goes up a bit with "add-ons" but for £650 with the extras and VAT I thought they were very good. I think their headline fee goes down to £275 for properties 300k or lower.

Legal Fees £349 VAT £69.80 Tele Transfer Fee £40 ID Check £30 VAT £6 Mortgage Admin Fee £75 VAT £15 SDLT Completion Fee £50 VAT £10

Stamp Duty £11,450 Land Registry Reg Fee £135 Land Registry Search £3 Land Registry Bankruptcy Searcg £8 Search Fees £176.60

PS Annie is probably adding stamp duty into the fees, I hope so anyway!

rosie383

We are using RMNJ too just now and they have been really fast, efficient, and helpful thus far. I can't fault them for anything. And their fees are very good too.
Previously used DC Law who we were very impressed with. Didn't use them this time only because the EA was wanting a huge cut because they introduced them to us for a previous purchase which didn't go through.

Annie1960

gatita wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments, and a special thank you to Malmo for taking all that trouble in giving me such detailed information.
Gosh am I glad I won't have to pay what Annie did, my heart stops at the thought lol

She was worth every penny, and managed to reduce my purchase which my previous (much cheaper) solicitor had botched.

System

I am currently paying £2,300 including disbursement a for a sale and purchase. That seems to be the going rate here in outer London/South Bucks/Berks

gatita

Hi Nubbins, I have tried to get quote from the RMNJ website, but it says "page unavailable" They seem to have reasonable charges compared to local lawyers! Will it make any difference that I am miles away in Devon?
Thank you again for your help