Solictors fees

Abigail1990

Hi
We have had an offer accepted on a house and are ready to put in for a mortgage application.

The estate agents are asking us to appoint solicitors. When is it normal for them to take fees? Would it be after the mortgage is agreed as I would be dubious about paying before any mortgage is agreed?

Thank you for your advice.

dunstonh

When is it normal for them to take fees?

At completion. However, you start incurring the fees as soon as work begins.

The estate agents are asking us to appoint solicitors.

Do it after your mortgage is agreed (after using an independent morgtage broker - not estate agent)

kingstreet

You will need to select a solicitor to be able to submit a mortgage application so best thing to do is call the solicitor and ensure they are on your lender's panel then ask them to open a file but do nothing until they hear from you.

They will send you a quote with an engagement letter and request for search fees, usually about £300. Send this only when you are happy you have reached the point you want to regarding mortgage progress.

ACG

We use a system to instruct our solicitors and on there we put a note on that says do not instruct searches until mortgage offer has been received.

This just protects the customers fees until the mortgage offer has been issued. However, some solicitors may want money upfront to open a file etc. They all work a little differently.

latte19

£300? My fees have been £600 pro fee, £367 outlays (searches etc) and £120 VAT.

Appoint your solicitor and let the agent know asap as you don’t want any unnecessary delays. The solicitor won’t ask for the money until completion along with deposit and any stamp duty..

ACG

latte19 wrote: »

£300? My fees have been £600 pro fee, £367 outlays (searches etc) and £120 VAT.

Appoint your solicitor and let the agent know asap as you don’t want any unnecessary delays. The solicitor won’t ask for the money until completion along with deposit and any stamp duty..

I am not saying you are wrong, but solicitors work differently.
Some will want money upfront, others will not.
If you do not want unnecessary delays, that means instructing searches immediately. If the mortgage does not get offered, you may still need to pay for the searches.

hannahvictoria

We submitted our mortgage application last Thursday, I had previously received a quote from the solicitors (£1102 inc VAT) and then instructed them to proceed the same afternoon once our mortgage application was submitted.


We had to pay a £150 upfront search fee (which they wont open your file without this payment) and then the rest of the fees are due on completion