Saving money on solicitors fees

manamaga2512

Hi all, my wife and I are soon to be moving house. We've accepted an offer on our property and our offer has been accepted on the property we want to buy. Now, we've has some quotes from a couple of solicitors and being the natural born tight !!!! Yorkshireman that I am, I'm thinking where can I save money here. I know it's possible to do my own searches but I wanted to know if anyone on here has done this themselves in the past? How did you get on, was it easy enough? I'm a network manager so anything web / internet based I'm completely comfortable with, I'm pretty savvy so fas as money goes too so I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty so to speak. Any advice would be most welcome.

Many thanks.

davidmcn

Basic stuff first - are you buying with a mortgage? If so then there are limits to how much it is worthwhile doing yourself as your solicitor will need to do much of the work anyway on behalf of your lender (at your cost).

G_M

1) don't scrimp. It amazes me people happily pay an estate agent (with minimal traning) £2-3K+, but resent paying a solicitor less than £1k.

2) having said that, yes, shop around. But compare like for like. Many web-based conveyancing firms quote low fees, but exclude elements which are shown in the small print and added on later.

3) if not getting a mortgage, you could DIY the conveyancing

4) there's a real value in being able to visit your solicitor. Some people disagree and think price, and email, is enough. Often it is, till there's a problem.

see also

A conveyancing quote should consist of two parts:

1. The solicitor's basic fee (i.e. what they charge to do the work).
2. The disbursements (these are things a conveyancer has to pay other people for on your behalf e.g. Local Authority Searches, Stamp Duty and so on).

manamaga2512

@davidmcn Yeah, we have a mortgage which is on interest only with a company who no longer offer mortgages, so that will be getting paid off with the money from our sale. The equity from our sale will be used for a deposit for our purchase. I completely get that the solicitors need to deal with that side of things. I think it was more of the searches etc.

manamaga2512

@G_M Our estate agent only charged us £800! Bargain eh? LOL. I'm just a tight wad really (too much watching Martin Lewis).

manamaga2512

One company has quoted us £369 for a "Search Pack", a Land Registry search for £8.00 and £8.00 for a bankruptcy search. Now, I'm not to bothered about the £8's but what the heck is a "search pack" for £369 if it doesn't include the land reg and bankruptcy searches?

Flat_Eric

manamaga2512 wrote: »

Hi all, my wife and I are soon to be moving house. We've accepted an offer on our property and our offer has been accepted on the property we want to buy. Now, we've has some quotes from a couple of solicitors and being the natural born tight !!!! Yorkshireman that I am, I'm thinking where can I save money here. I know it's possible to do my own searches but I wanted to know if anyone on here has done this themselves in the past? How did you get on, was it easy enough? I'm a network manager so anything web / internet based I'm completely comfortable with, I'm pretty savvy so fas as money goes too so I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty so to speak. Any advice would be most welcome.

Many thanks.

What searches are you thinking of doing yourself?

Mutton_Geoff

It's not the function of obtaining searches that cost the money, it is interpreting them. I'm all in favour of saving money but this could be false economy and with a little bit of bad luck turn out to be the most expensive mistake of your life. Or not. I personally wouldn't try to save a few hundred quid in the legal side of the purchase. If you're borrowing money, your lender will insist on a proper legal person to act on their behalf.

kinger101

Find a good solicitor, by asking for recommendations. Price is only a secondary consideration. I've dealt with two that were not great, and the buyer/seller on both these occasions used ones that were even worse. It's not worth the aggravation.

The third time I found a good one, and will be sticking with them in the future.

Thrugelmir

manamaga2512 wrote: »

I completely get that the solicitors need to deal with that side of things. I think it was more of the searches etc.

Your solicitor also works for your lender. Just happens you are paying their costs as well. As a consequence there'll be no cutting corners as the solicitor will have a list of requirements to adhere too.

lika_86

manamaga2512 wrote: »

One company has quoted us £369 for a "Search Pack", a Land Registry search for £8.00 and £8.00 for a bankruptcy search. Now, I'm not to bothered about the £8's but what the heck is a "search pack" for £369 if it doesn't include the land reg and bankruptcy searches?

Land Registry sounds like searches of the register (which need doing at the start to get the title and before exchange to check nothing has changed) and bankruptcy searches against you. The search pack will include searches relating to the property you are buying - local search, drainage and water etc.

Disbursements are generally quoted as a standard fee initially but may be less depending on the local authority. Give or take this estimate they will need paying whichever firm you go with.

Don't skimp on a good firm though.