Solicitor Quote Comparison

Neenee58431

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can help? My partner and I just had an offer accepted on a maisonette and we're trying to compare quotes on solicitors. We've found that many give nice clear quotes but they're not always comparable. Some include Stamp Duty Land Tax form filling separately, some include that within the fees.

The difficult part though is where they don't include everything that would be required in our situation. Cross referencing all the quotes I have come up with the following list of things that they should be including but is anyone able to spot if I've missed something? I'm trying to avoid unexpected charges coming up later down the line.

* = will be subject to VAT

Legal fees*
leasehold fees*
SDLT (stamp duty tax land return form)*
Search Pack
Land Registry Search
Bankruptcy Search
Stamp Duty
ID Verification
Local environment and drainage searches
Land Registry Fee
Office Copy Entries
Anti-Money Laundering Fee on your purchase

Thanks in advance!

chappers

To be honest they will all do all the things you need, they won't leave any thing for you to do.
All of the disbursements will be the same regardless of who you use so really all you need to compare are the raw solicitors cost, no mater how they are itemised.
In your list the disbursements are;

Searches
Land registry fee
Money laundering checks

Everything else would be part of the general legal duties, there may be a charge for any bank transfers they may have to make and if you are also selling and have a mortgage to discharge.

G_M

Sorry but some cheap online warehouses will add even more in the small print....

Neenee58431 wrote: »

* = will be subject to VAT

Legal fees*
leasehold fees*
SDLT (stamp duty tax land return form)*
Search Pack
Land Registry Search
Bankruptcy Search
Stamp Duty
ID Verification
Local environment and drainage searches
other optional searches
Land Registry Fee
Office Copy Entries
Anti-Money Laundering Fee on your purchase
professional indemnity insurance fee
Telegraphic Transfer fee
acting for mortgage lender
Office fees (photocopying etc)

For searches, read
https://www.reallymoving.com/first-time-buyers/guides/what-are-conveyancing-searches

For more on comparing quotes:
http://www.theadvisory.co.uk/conveyancing-quote.php

My advice? Walk down your local High Street, go into 3 solicitors' offices, and ask to see a solicitor for a conveyancing quote. See how responsive they are. Once speaking to the solictor, explain exactly what you want eg
* freehold or leasehold
* with mortgage? which lender?
* which local authority

You should get a written quote tailored to your requirements as well as a good idea how sympathetic/approachable they will be throughout the process. It's not just all about the cost........

Neenee58431

Thanks both! Especially for the quick reply. We will look to go into their offices tomorrow - interesting to see how responsive they'll be on a Saturday too

Any tips for Surveyors? I've received quotes ranging from 400-550 for homebuyers surveys. I'll be googling them for reviews just in case too.

Cheers.

TBagpuss

Most solicitors won't be able to come down and give a quote if you call in without an appointment. If they can, it could be a sign that they are not very busy.
It's probably more sensible to phone and see how quickly you get a call back, to discuss a quote.
Also, don't assume that someone who is not a solicitor isn't perfectly competent - do use a solicitors firm, but there are many highly experienced and competent legal executives doing this kind of work. Don't discount them.

Fiesto88

Another vote for visiting in person or speaking directly with the solicitor rather than the admin. We had four quotes and ended up going with the second-most expensive one based entirely on meeting him. He was the only one who explained everything in crystal clear English and laid out exactly how he works and what we could expect in terms of communication and updates. He was also the only one who asked any questions about the property beyond the address and purchase price - based on this, he was able to tell us a lot about what sort of curve balls might come up. He’s turned out to be exactly what he said on the tin and he seems to “get it” that it’s a very nerve-racking experience.

The cheapest one couldn’t emphasise enough how busy she was and how many cases she’s handling at any one time. She also got the stamp duty amount wrong (she was the cheapest even with it corrected). We’d have saved around £250 but I had no confidence she’d do a good job. By coincidence, it turns out that her firm did the conveyancing when our vendor purchased the property and, surprise surprise, there are things missing now that should have been obtained for the vendor then (less than 2 years ago).

00ec25

Neenee58431 wrote: »

* = will be subject to VAT

Legal fees*
leasehold fees*
SDLT (stamp duty tax land return form)*

you do not pay VAT on the SDLT

the figure upon which your SDLT amount payable is calculated does (where applicable) include any VAT charged on the fees built into your purchase price, but for a residential property it is 99.9% certain there will be no VATable fees included in the price you pay to the vendor because it is very unlikely that the residential property will itself be subject to VAT. (If the property were a commercial, not residential one, the situation would most likely be reversed)

the costs you pay to your own advisers (surveyor, legals, lender etc) do not form part of the chargeable consideration upon which the SDLT is calculated

so you do not pay extra VAT on the actual SDLT you have to pay