Advice please on selling a flat

Patti1517

I wonder if anyone can give me some clarity..  I have just sold my later Mother's flat to my Brother (who is living there). I engaged the services of a Solicitor and because of various technicalities ( the sale took approx 6 months and presented quite a few obstacles the final bill was just short of £5,000. I contacted my Solicitor and he said the fees are  payable to the managing agent? I am confused about this as It was a straight sale from me to my brother, so doe he mean the Managing agents on my Brother's side? (confused) .. I also paid him £750 on account at the beginning of the conveyancing. His receipt only mentions a couple of items and their final bill. Yesterday I got a call from his assistant informing me that their accounts department had overpaid me by the tune of £672 and I have to repay it. I am not happy with the outcome and it seems a lot of money to pay and plus they have added the £750 onto the bill. I would be most grateful if anyone could give me a little clarity.

user1977

Is the bill purely for the sale or does it include other work in dealing with the executry?

If you're not sure what the bill means, you're best to talk to your solicitor until you understand it. Have the funds already been deducted from the sale proceeds or are you still to pay (other than the overpayment they've asked for)?

canaldumidi

Very hard to comment without seeing a breakdown of a) the original quote and b) the final bill.

Not sure how it could be "a straight sale from me to my brother" since it was your late mother's flat. Was probate granted? Who is/was/were the Executors?

The 'managing agents' sounds like the freeholder's agents for the building, but this needs clarifying.

It's normal to pay something on account at the start. Is the £5000 the total fee, or is that in addition to the £ 750?

Also not clear how on the one hand they are billing you £5000 yet at the same time they have 'overpaid' by £672. Is the £672 part of the sale fee from your brother? Is the 672 part of the £5000 or in addition?

There is so litle information provided (and what there is is so unclear) that it is impossible to advise you.

Patti1517

Thanks for your replies. 
Probate was granted on the 6th June 2021. I am the executor. She left everything to me. I agreed to sell it to my Brother as he has lived there for many years I agreed to split the inheritance 50/50.This caused problems with his lenders as this was deemed as a gift from me  (as he is not mentioned in Mum's will) and hence became complicated with my brother's solicitors asking for this to be explained to them several times.

To be honest the whole process has been a headache and has taken approx 6 months to complete.

What I meant by straight sale is that there were no Estate agents involved just solicitors for conveyancing.

My solicitor advised that his fees were £1800 plus VAT and disbursements. I paid £750 on account. The final bill (with them wanting
£674 paid back to them is now £4.992. I was told by my solicitor's assistant the £750 has been added to the bill so it just seems such a lot of money..

I am not sure if this makes complete sense but I am concerned because their accounts department have already made a an error in overcharging me.

I just don't understand what my Solicitor meant when to said it's not their bill it's the Managing agents. 
He is calling me back on Monday but in the interim I am just trying to seek clarity from people who may shed some light on this before my conversation with him.

Please bear with me.. Many thanks.

Edi81

Flats tend to have managing agents that the owners pay for various services. 

Whilst the property was in probate was this not being paid to them?

Patti1517

Yes my Brother has paid the managing agents their service charges and ground rent there are no arrears.

user1977

Patti1517 said:

Yes my Brother has paid the managing agents their service charges and ground rent there are no arrears.

In which case you probably want to check there's no double-counting (e.g. the solicitor keeping money back for managing agent costs which have already been paid). Managing agents probably have a fee (to the vendor) for dealing with the transfer of ownership, so that will be in the costs somewhere.

GDB2222

Patti1517 said:

Yes my Brother has paid the managing agents their service charges and ground rent there are no arrears.

Your query really is not clear. £5k for conveyancing sounds like an awful lot. So, something else is probably included. Really, you need to ask the solicitors.

Patti1517

Thank you all for your kind replies. I'm just worried and appreciate your input. It sounds like something could be amiss. I will try and sort it out with my Solicitor on Monday. 

NameUnavailable

It sounds like maybe there is some confusion about service charges. It's normal for the seller to pay the charges up to the point of sale and the buyer has to pay any balance for the remainder of the year. If there were other charges for works in progress they would normally be paid by the seller.

You need to ask your solicitor for a full breakdown of the charges.

canaldumidi

Are there also probate charges in there? It sounds like you are not selling to your brother - the Estate (for which you are Executor) is selling to him. He pays the Estate, and as sole Beneficiary(?) you receive the funds when the Estate is wound up. Is the solicitor either a joint Executor, or appointed to assist you in Probate?

As explained, it's usual for Managing Agents to charge for transfer of ownership of the lease (a disbursement), so that fee will be on top of the conveyancing fee. Other disbursements may apply - see the solicitor's final account. Might there also be SDLT?

As user1977 says, there may or may not also be double accounting of service charges/ground rent.

When you "agreed to split the inheritance 50/50", did you do this formally via Deed of Variation? Did the solicitor draw this up? If not, I'm not surprised your brother's solicitor needed this explained as the 'gift' would need differentiating from 'inheritance', and the purchase price would thus need clarifying (if only for SDLT if not also your bother's mortgage lender if any).