Saving money on solicitors fees

FTBScotland

I personally wouldn't handle any of the paperwork myself; as others have said, it could prove a very costly mistake. If you're applying for a mortgage they may want it handled entirely by a solicitor. We're first time buyers, so overly cautious perhaps, but for the sake of a few hundred pounds I'd rather have peace of mind. Shop around for a good firm and ask friends for recommendations. Our solicitors are great, they've handled everything promptly and thoroughly and have been worth every penny

Flat_Eric

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?

lika_86 wrote: »

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.

If buying then the solicitors acting for the sellers provide the up to date Title info from the Land Registry at their expense although to save time the buyers solicitors may duplicate this search at their clients (buyer's expense)

As a buyer the solicitor acting for you has to do bankruptcy searches and also a priority search effectively putting the Land Registry on notice that there's going to be an application made soon to change ownership.

Plus there will be the Land Registry fee to register you as the new owners. This is on a sliding scale depending on the property value.

steampowered

If you are buying with a mortgage, you have no choice. The solicitor will have to do the searches.

Remember that the solicitor will also be representing the lender. No lender is going to give you a mortgage without the solicitor doing searches.

ReadingTim

There is economy and there is false economy. Don't fall into the trap of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

lika_86

Flat_Eric wrote: »

If buying then the solicitors acting for the sellers provide the up to date Title info from the Land Registry at their expense although to save time the buyers solicitors may duplicate this search at their clients (buyer's expense)

The OP is also selling, so will have to provide Title docs for their buyer.

goodwithsaving

Solicitor fees and surveys are NOT the place to be trying to save money.
You are trusting people with life assets here.

TBagpuss

manamaga2512 wrote: »

@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.

The issue is whether you will be buying the new property with a mortgage/. If you are, then the solicitor acts for the mortgage lender as well as for you, and are likely to want the searches etc to go through the solicitor, so even if you apply for the searches yourself, it won';t save you anything as they will still need to be provided to the solicitor so they can review them and advise the mortgage lender.

If you are looking for somewhere to save money then scrimping on legal advice is probably not the way to go. Maybe think about doing more of the marketing of the property yourself and save some money there, instead.