Are these conveyancing fees reasonable?

Klang189

Hello Everyone
Looking for some advice. We are ready to proceed with conveyancing having accepted an offer on our house and had an offer on another accepted, great good to go!
We contacted the solicitor we used for the purchase of the house and were a bit surprised by the quote and wondered if anyone could weight in and say whether this represents a reasonable amount or if we are being had? They are a reputable solicitor based in Exeter so I wouldn't think they are bad at all but just want to check this is inline with what people would expect?

Freehold sale at £263,000

legal fees - £850.00 VAT thereon - £170.00

 Payments to third parties

Land Registry office copies – £7.20

 Total - £1,027.20

 Freehold purchase at £300,000

legal fees - £950.00 - VAT thereon - £190.00

- land transaction return admin fee (for preparing stamp duty form) - £50.00 - VAT thereon - £10.00

bank transfer admin fee (for sending money to the seller’s solicitors by bank transfer on completion) - £36.00 - VAT thereon - £7.20

Payments to third parties

Search fees (estimated) - £230.00

Land Registry registration fee – £135.00

Stamp Duty - NIL

Land Registry official search fee - £3.60

 Total - £1,611.80

TOTAL: 2639

sam121285

We paid a lot less. Roughly £1400 for both sale and purchase however ours was beyond useless and boarderline incompetent so in hindsight I would not choose the cheapest again and instead go with someone who comes well recommended. 

Klang189

sam121285 said:

We paid a lot less. Roughly £1400 for both sale and purchase however ours was beyond useless and boarderline incompetent so in hindsight I would not choose the cheapest again and instead go with someone who comes well recommended. 

Thanks, that is a very good point and we don't want the false economy of a "cheap" solicitor I just wondered if another one might be worth a pop.

AdrianC

So they're charging you...

£1,027.20 for the sale - of which £850 is their fee, £170 is VAT on it.
On top of that, £7.20 for their copy of the LR paperwork.

£1,611.80 for the purchase - if which £950 is their fee, £190 is VAT on it.
On top of that, £50 + VAT for completing the SDLT form, £36 + VAT for the bank transfer fee, £230 for the searches, £135 for the LR fee.

Yes, it comes to £2,639 all in... They're actually only getting £1,800 of that for doing the legals for both sale and purchase.

Doesn't look ridiculously out of whack.

Tiglet2

Seems ok to me for the amount of work involved.  

eddddy

Get some quotes from other solicitors - that will be the best way to see if the quote you have is reasonable.

I've always sent a brief email with relevant details to a few solicitors, and often get a reply on the same day.

Details you need to provide would probably be:
For the sale...

• Sale price
• Tenure (leasehold/freehold)
• Mortgage to be redeemed?

For the purchase...

• Purchase price
• Tenure (leasehold/freehold)
• Mortgage required?

Klang189

Thanks everyone, puts my mind at rest that it doesn't look too terrible. I have gone and contacted the three best reviewed ones for quotes too so if we get similar prices we'll know, thanks for the suggestion and piece of mind on this.

Secretsusie

Similar to the costs I'm paying to a local solicitor I've used before and trust.   You can get cheaper online, but I'd rather have local and trusted. 

knightstyle

We are using a local solicitor, about £1700 plus VAT for sale and purchase of freehold properties.

PJBRFC

For a local solicitor I would say that's reasonable. You will get cheaper quotes from these online conveyor belt conveyancers, but you get what you pay for. We paid around the same as that for a local solicitor and they were fantastic, and I'm certain we wouldn't have got over the line without them. Our buyers used cheap online conveyancers and they were an absolute nightmare. Our EA said he wouldn't go through another transaction with that company involved again. Even our buyer hated them eventually.

csgohan4

always get 3 quotes and then decide which one would be best for you, not just on price.