Solicitor fees

Saria

My fiance and I have put down an offer on a house this weekend, and it has been accepted by the vendor, whooo! We are first time buyers so it has been a bit of a scary process so far. :P

I am now trying to find a solicitor to help us close the deal and do the paperwork. I received one quote back, and was wondering if people could tell me if this sounds reasonable or not? I have no clue about this obviously! Could you guys have a look and tell me if this sounds ok, or if they are adding weird things on?

Cost of Property to be purchased: 244500,00

OUR CHARGES

Your Purchase £ 670,00
Stamp Duty Land Tax Administration Fee £ 75,00
Fee for Arranging Transfer of Funds £ 35,00

TOTAL OUR CHARGES £ 780,00

OTHER CHARGES [Payments to Government and other bodies [at current rates]]:

VAT on our charges & fees as above £ 156,00
Searchflow Search Fee £ 221,60
Bankruptcy Search Fee (if required) £ 2,00
Stamp Duty Land Tax £ 2 390,00
Land Registry Search Fee £ 3,00
Land Registry Registration Fee £ 270,00
Chancel Indemnity Policy Fee £ 10,60
Fraud Detection Lawyer Search Fee (if required) £ 12,00

TOTAL OTHER CHARGES £ 3 065,20
TOTAL OUR CHARGES £ 780,00
GRAND TOTAL £ 3 845,20


Also, if they would have to deal with our Help to Buy ISAs (closing the account and all that), would that add extra fees you think? I forgot to mention it to them when I asked for the quote. I have heard of some people where the solicitor didn't even know how to deal with the HtB ISA...

And lastly, my fiance has a really, really long and unusual name, which has been giving us some issues with our mortgage application as his first name isn't actually his first name on his passport. I am wondering if this could cause issues with the solicitor as well? :S

Thanks for your help guys!

TrickyTree83

All looks ok to me, the only one which I would question is:

Land Registry Registration Fee £ 270,00

Since we're buying a new build I know that's what we need to pay as it's the first time the property will be registered (or something like that). Are you buying a new build? I think for 2nd hand homes this should be cheaper.

[Deleted User]

A local "Quality Solicitor" charges £2500 for buying a property under £250K.

Brightspark87

Hi mine charges £50 per help to buy ISA but costs look the same as we paid (similar purchase price too!) They have been fantastic and as FTB too we loved the support a local solicitor provided us.

davidmcn

Deleted_User wrote: »

A local "Quality Solicitor" charges £2500 for buying a property under £250K.

Ouch. I hope they're top quality for that sort of price.

Saria

TrickyTree83 wrote: »

All looks ok to me, the only one which I would question is:

Land Registry Registration Fee £ 270,00

Since we're buying a new build I know that's what we need to pay as it's the first time the property will be registered (or something like that). Are you buying a new build? I think for 2nd hand homes this should be cheaper.

No it's an older house (built in 1977 I think), with the current owner having been there 15 years. However I didn't mention this when asking for the quote, so possibly this could change. This was an estimate they are giving me based on what I told them (which I guess wasn't enough heh).

Still waiting to hear back from another solicitor recommended to me by a friend, but they are being a bit slow...

Also, our house purchase is through Purplebricks.com, and they gave a quote as well through eZie or something (think the quote was about £3750). Anyone know if this is any good, or am I better off just picking a local solicitor?

[Deleted User]

davidmcn wrote: »

Ouch. I hope they're top quality for that sort of price.

How do you mean?

It's cheaper than the OP's quote.

AnotherJoe

IME generally best to go local especially if costs are comparable. Anything needs signing you can pop in personally, nothing to get lost in the post. Anything you want explaining face to face.

No way to know if the "eZie" one is any good without seeing a list of itemised costs, maybe it excludes some elements that are in the quote you got? As its the same ballpark I'd be included to go with the one you already have* (maybe the other solicitor being slow isn't good sign of how they will proceed when you are dealing with them?)

*With one proviso. Ask them about Help To Buy.

BusyBargainz

Mine is costing £2490 in total for all of the above but our stamp duty is only £1160 as our property costs less so if you take that into account then it's not far off what we are paying.

Been quite impressed with their work so far, my friend paid £1000 less but her solicitors were shocking. We went for this one as they were recommended by a few friends and had good reviews so we are happy to pay the extra for good service.

davidmcn

Deleted_User wrote: »

How do you mean?

It's cheaper than the OP's quote.

The solicitor's fee in the OP's quote is only £780. Not much point including disbursements in your comparison as those relate to the property price, and e.g. no solicitor can get you a cheaper deal on stamp duty.

[Deleted User]

davidmcn wrote: »

The solicitor's fee in the OP's quote is only £780. Not much point including disbursements in your comparison as those relate to the property price, and e.g. no solicitor can get you a cheaper deal on stamp duty.

The fee without disbursements is £625 so I still win.