House purchase - Is this up-front solicitor fee reasonable?

Wander1

One of my children is a first-time buyer, in London. The offer has been accepted by the vendor, and the mortgage agreed in principle. The property value is about £400,000. The conveyancing solicitor company is asking for £2,500 up front fees, which I notice does not include a survey.

Is this reasonable?  And should they do the searches before the mortgage formal offer arrives?

user1977

Was your child expecting to pay the surveyor's fee via the solicitor? That doesn't sound a normal arrangement, you'd generally arrange surveys directly with the surveyor.

Have they had a breakdown of what the estimated costs are going to be and what the £2,500 comprises?

It's up to your child whether they want the searches started before the mortgage offer comes in, there seems to be a tendency for everything to go in series, which can be "money-saving" if e.g. there's difficulty getting a mortgage, but tends to drag out the process to be even longer than it already is.

hazyjo

Sure it's not modern auction method or a non-refundable fee?

Wouldn't expect to pay more than a few hundred max for surveys up front.

fourmarks

I've never had to pay solicitors more than a £100 - £200 deposit, the remainder being paid upon completion. 

Surveys are normally arranged separately.

Countrysider

Perhaps they included stamp duty, and either 

a) didn't account for them being a FTBer
b) did account for FTB status but on the previous £300K threshold of a few weeks ago

My first conveyancing quote included stamp duty even though i said i was a FTBer. When i queried it my conveyancer set it to 0. Maybe they just add stamp duty as a the default.

Though, the above doesn't explain why they want the fees upfront...

user1977

Also, if your child is a big enough boy/girl/whatever to be buying a £400k property, they are welcome to join the forum themselves and ask for our advice.

jonnydeppiwish!

That’s a lot of money for just a purchase. £50-200 deposit is ‘normal’ and for that price, I would expect to be selling and buying.

newsgroupmonkey_

Wander1 said:

One of my children is a first-time buyer, in London. The offer has been accepted by the vendor, and the mortgage agreed in principle. The property value is about £400,000. The conveyancing solicitor company is asking for £2,500 up front fees, which I notice does not include a survey.

Is this reasonable?  And should they do the searches before the mortgage formal offer arrives?

Quite frankly, that sounds horrendous. We've done a similar value deal of buying AND selling and paid less than that.

I'm going to hazard a guess here.... they're using the "Estate Agent's approved solicitor"? Premier Property Lawyers, Shoosmiths etc.

If they don't want to use a local solicitor, there are plenty of online places that will give you a quote for less than half that price.

Our last 2 moves, we'ved used The Conveyancing Network - they're like a compare the market type company who will put you in touch with the cheapest conveyancer. They are upfront about how they make their money. It's worked out well for us on both occasions, but of course, your mileage may vary. You can of course lookup the trustpilot reviews for the conveyancers that they recommend as cheapest isn't always best.

Wander1

user1977 said:

Also, if your child is a big enough boy/girl/whatever to be buying a £400k property, they are welcome to join the forum themselves and ask for our advice.

Overprotective parents.

Wander1

Did not find them via the estate agent, but they turned out to be on the agents' 'panel'. Perhaps should have run a mile. Had to change solicitor in a hurry, as the original one was dragging heels badly.