High Street Conveyancer Costs

studentguy

Hi All,

What sort of figure have you folks had using high street conveyancers? I seem to have quotes from £1400-1700 without stamp duty (but with disbursements) for a purchase only FTB quote, which seems quite high? Is this normal for a £350k house?

It's not looking like we have much choice though if we want someone local we can pop in and see annoyingly. Also annoying is I can't read reviews, as there doesn't seem to be many reviews for solicitors, and I don't know many people who have bought houses in this area recently. I don't mind paying extra for a good service, but it could be no better than a cheap online firm!

Thanks!

Thrugelmir

You are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds. For the sake of a very small amount. I'd personally go with a local reputable firm of solicitors that have an in house conveyancing team. Unlikely you will then go wrong.

G_M

studentguy wrote: »

.... quotes from £1400-1700 without stamp duty (but with disbursements) for a purchase only FTB quote, which seems quite high? Is this normal for a £350k house?

freehold or leasehold?
including acting for mortgage lender, or not?
what disbursements?


It's not looking like we have much choice though if we want someone local we can pop in and see annoyingly.
I'm a great believer in the ability to pop in. Stick with it.
Visit 2 more local firms.
Also judge them by how welcoming/approachable they are, not just the price

Need to see the entire quote.

ACG

It will depend on where you live.
There are parts of Manchester you can get a local solicitor quite cheap and then there are other parts of Manchester where £1700 would seem cheap by comparison.

studentguy

Sol 1:

Our Costs £925.00
SDLT Admin Fee £50.00
TT Admin Fee £30.00
VAT £201.00
Searches £300.00
Land Registry Fee £135.00
SDLT £0.00
Chancel Insurance £10.60
Total £1,651.60

SDLT won't be £0 though....?

Sol 2:

Costs - £950.00 plus VAT of £190.00
Searches - £300 approximately
Land Registry fee £135.00 (if the Title is already registered), £270.00 (if the Title is unregistered)
Stamp Duty - £2,750.00
Land Registry and bankruptcy search - £8.40
Funds Transfer Fee - £36.00
Chancel Indemnity Policy - £15.33 (if required)
Lawyer Checker Fee - £12.50 (if necessary)

Sol 3:

Legal Costs 750.00
VAT 150.00
Search Fees (approximate) 169.80
Land Registry Fee 270.00
Stamp Duty 2750.00
Telegraphic Transfer Fee 30.00
Land Registry OS1 Search 3.00
Bankruptcy Search 2.00
SDLT Completion Fee 50.00
ID Check 6.00


Property is freehold, with a mortgage

studentguy

Thrugelmir wrote: »

You are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds. For the sake of a very small amount. I'd personally go with a local reputable firm of solicitors that have an in house conveyancing team. Unlikely you will then go wrong.

No I totally agree, I'm not realistically considering an online one - the problem is though, I have no idea which local solicitors is the best one to go with.

Thrugelmir

studentguy wrote: »

No I totally agree, I'm not realistically considering an online one - the problem is though, I have no idea which local solicitors is the best one to go with.

Solicitors are like any other business. Well established firms survive due to their reputation. The solicitor you appoint is most likely going to be the least of your worries during the process.

Ogriv

Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme? Any other indicators of competent conveyancing.

G_M

studentguy wrote: »

Sol 1:

Our Costs £925.00
SDLT Admin Fee £50.00 I hate when they add this as an extra!
TT Admin Fee £30.00
VAT £201.00
Searches £300.00 these will be the same whoever you use
Land Registry Fee £135.00 standard
SDLT £0.00
Chancel Insurance £10.60
Total £1,651.60

SDLT won't be £0 though....? it will be the same whoever you use

Sol 2:

Costs - £950.00 plus VAT of £190.00
I like that they (presumaby) include completing the SDLT form within their £950 fee - but check this is the case!

Searches - £300 approximately these will be the same whoever you use
Land Registry fee £135.00 (if the Title is already registered), £270.00 (if the Title is unregistered)
Stamp Duty - £2,750.00 these will be the same whoever you use
Land Registry and bankruptcy search - £8.40
Funds Transfer Fee - £36.00 similar to £30 TT fee above
Chancel Indemnity Policy - £15.33 (if required)
Lawyer Checker Fee - £12.50 (if necessary)

Sol 3:

Legal Costs 750.00
VAT 150.00
Search Fees (approximate) 169.80 these will be the same whoever you use
Land Registry Fee 270.00 so presumably the property is unregistered? If registered, £135
Stamp Duty 2750.00 these will be the same whoever you use
Telegraphic Transfer Fee 30.00
Land Registry OS1 Search 3.00
Bankruptcy Search 2.00
SDLT Completion Fee 50.00 ugh!
ID Check 6.00


Property is freehold, with a mortgage

Registered or unregistered?


So put aside the disbursements (searches, TT, bankrupcy etc) as these will all be the same (even if their 'estimates' vary) and :


Sol 1 = £975 (925 + 50 for SDLT)
Sol 2 = £950
Sol 3 = £800 (750 + 50)


So based purely on price, Sol 3 is cheapest. But Sol 2 is more 'decent' (not adding a separate SDLT fee).


Whic was most friendly/approachable?

studentguy

G_M wrote: »

Registered or unregistered?


So put aside the disbursements (searches, TT, bankrupcy etc) as these will all be the same (even if their 'estimates' vary) and :


Sol 1 = £975 (925 + 50 for SDLT)
Sol 2 = £950
Sol 3 = £800 (750 + 50)


So based purely on price, Sol 3 is cheapest. But Sol 2 is more 'decent' (not adding a separate SDLT fee).


Whic was most friendly/approachable?

As far as I'm aware Registered. Was built in the 90s, and doing a search on the Land Registry site shows it and lets me order documents.

Sol 1 seems to have calculated Stamp Duty wrong, they've marked SDLT as £0 which it isn't...

I've only emailed them, Sol 1 came back with a quote the quickest, Sol 2 replied with a holding email the quickest and replied within a couple of hours with the quote, Sol 3 replied next day. Sol 1 seem to be the friendliest in the email, but I'm a bit concerned about the £0 stamp duty! Sol 2 is the easiest to visit with it's own car park (Sol 1 is in town, Sol 3 is in the city of the purchasing property but an hour away from us currently)

TamsinC

I would ignore what sol 1 quote for stamp duty - as you aren't paying them you are paying the government - it's irrelevant that they quoted £0 (in my opinion) as you will still have to pay it and they know that - they maybe thought you purely wanted to know THEIR fees. Query them on it and see what they say.