Paying the solicitor and agent

Sulder_and_Mully

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of moving home and I have a question about paying fees.

Can you pay the solicitor and agent fees from the sale of the house (deposit) or do you have to stump up the money separately from your own bank account?

Thanks for responses in advance

DaftyDuck

Estate agent gets his cut from the sale results. Same for most solicitors, although some fees due upfront. For selling, thus is minimal... I have splashed out 12 quid on land registry fees.

ellie27

In Scotland you dont generally pay anything up front and all the solicitors fees are taken off the sale of the house.

Malmo

Here is a MSE guide that refers to the likely buying fees & costs to factor in and when they may be due.

Generally, the agent marketing your own property will in practice expect to be paid on completion.

The solicitor will expect some costs to be met throughout the process, For example, legal search fees before exchange, the deposit for your onward purchase at or just before you exchange and the conveyancing fee & SDLT at completion.

Sulder_and_Mully

Thanks for the replies!

eddddy

... but also be aware that you may have fees to pay if a sale falls through - whether it is your fault, the seller's fault, or anyone else's fault.

You can investigate 'no sale, no fee' solicitors, in order to avoid this.

And definitely look for a 'no sale, no fee' estate agent.

(I would always avoid EAs that have clauses about a 'ready, willing and able buyer' in their contract, or who charge withdrawal fees.)

LandyAndy

eddddy wrote: »

... but also be aware that you may have fees to pay if a sale falls through - whether it is your fault, the seller's fault, or anyone else's fault.

You can investigate 'no sale, no fee' solicitors, in order to avoid this.

And definitely look for a 'no sale, no fee' estate agent.

(I would always avoid EAs that have clauses about a 'ready, willing and able buyer' in their contract, or who charge withdrawal fees.)

I insisted mine changed it to 'on completion'. They didn't make a fuss.

TBagpuss

You normally pay the fees out of the sale proceeds, but disbursements, such as the search fees normally have to be paid upfront. Your solicitor will be able to tell you, when they give a quote, what will need to be paid up front.

You may also find it cheaper to get your own EPC and pay for that upfront, than to roll it into your estate agents costs.

Surrey_EA

TBagpuss wrote: »

You normally pay the fees out of the sale proceeds, but disbursements, such as the search fees normally have to be paid upfront. Your solicitor will be able to tell you, when they give a quote, what will need to be paid up front.

You may also find it cheaper to get your own EPC and pay for that upfront, than to roll it into your estate agents costs.

Do some EAs not absorb the cost of the EPC then? We have never charged extra for an EPC, and I'm virtually certain that not of our competitors do either.

LateStarter

I've been involved in 2 house sales in the past year - both times had to pay for EPCs - one was arranged via the EA as their price was reasonable. Other one I chose to use an independent as I though EA's price was way too high.

But definitely had to pay.