Selling property - solicitor fees

il_campagnolo

Hi there

I have accepted an offer to sell my property (2 bed flat, share of freehold) and am looking for a solicitor to handle the conveyancing. Quotes so far seem incredibly steep - around £2k plus VAT. Is this the going rate now? It doesn't seem reflective of advice I'm reading online, which ranges from under 1k to a high end of 1.5k. 

If anyone has a recommendation for a good solicitor with more reasonable fees, I would be very appreciative!

Thank you
Carl

user1977

Price of property? Area? (no particular need to use a local solicitor if you're somewhere expensive)

il_campagnolo

Price well under 500k, in South west London. But I’ve also had a quote in Nottingham that is similarly steep.

AskAsk

solicitors fees have gone up quite a lot, in line with everything else under the name of inflation.  2k + VAT sounds about right at the moment for conveyancing.  pretty steep as it was about 1.3k last year.

EssexHebridean

That sounds high to me - at least for a straightforward sale. Are you sure the quotes you are being given aren’t including things like copies of documents from the Land Registry, fees for dealing with redemption of the mortgage and cost of sending funds to you after completion? (Although even those would not make it up to anywhere close to £2k in my view). 

propertyrental

One can't really comment without a breakdown of the quote.

There was a thread here very recently from a buyer who'd been quoted £350 odd! He was miffed because the final bill had multiple 'extras' (completing the SDLT form etc etc) which pushed the price up enormously, so n these days of competitive conveyancing you have to read the small print.

Do your quotes include SDLT for example/

EndlessStruggle

Most of them break the fees down and the "legal fees" are usually not that steep about £4-700.

It's the extra fees attached to the sales and/or purchase that add up to the overall fee.

ID fees, search fees, acting on behalf of lender, admin fee, archive fees, land duty fee and so on and so on.

That is about right when the actual total is clarified/transparent.

diystarter7

propertyrental said:

One can't really comment without a breakdown of the quote.

There was a thread here very recently from a buyer who'd been quoted £350 odd! He was miffed because the final bill had multiple 'extras' (completing the SDLT form etc etc) which pushed the price up enormously, so n these days of competitive conveyancing you have to read the small print.

Do your quotes include SDLT for example/

Hi

The SDLT is always separate to the fee as the solicitor does not know how much the property will sell for

You are spot on, we do need a breakdown of fees.

However, for those that feel 2k plus vat is high, I'm a million per cent certain they have no idea re solcitors costs that are office based where you can go and meet and get real papers work ie hard copies and emails

Do you have a mortage as that adds a bit

However, to me it looks ok - just seek several like for like quotes and dont go for the cheapest without checking them out as some can potentially lose you a sale.

2k seems about right plus vat, plus the stamp and it does seem high if you lack experience in buying/selling or not done so for years but almost everything is sky high prices


NB: We have only used local, well not so local solicitors and or ones recommended by EA having done our own research but never an online or newer lot.

SDLT_Geek

diystarter7 said:

propertyrental said:

One can't really comment without a breakdown of the quote.

There was a thread here very recently from a buyer who'd been quoted £350 odd! He was miffed because the final bill had multiple 'extras' (completing the SDLT form etc etc) which pushed the price up enormously, so n these days of competitive conveyancing you have to read the small print.

Do your quotes include SDLT for example/

Hi

The SDLT is always separate to the fee as the solicitor does not know how much the property will sell for

......


Do you have a mortage as that adds a bit

.......

But OP is selling, not buying!!

EssexHebridean

propertyrental said:

One can't really comment without a breakdown of the quote.

There was a thread here very recently from a buyer who'd been quoted £350 odd! He was miffed because the final bill had multiple 'extras' (completing the SDLT form etc etc) which pushed the price up enormously, so n these days of competitive conveyancing you have to read the small print.

Do your quotes include SDLT for example/

This is a sale so no SDLT to take into consideration. 

OP - we always quote everything in itemised lines - our fees, then all other costs and disbursements below that.  If that’s not what you’re seeing then personally I’d look elsewhere, as I would be concerned about that lack of clarity. 

Are the solicitors you’ve had quotes from CQS accredited? That’s the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme and is something to look out for. 

If you want to post a photo of a quote you’ve had here (please block out all details identifying the firm) then we can at least see what they are quoting you for each item and whether there seems to be any obvious errors. 

diystarter7

SDLT_Geek said:

diystarter7 said:

propertyrental said:

One can't really comment without a breakdown of the quote.

There was a thread here very recently from a buyer who'd been quoted £350 odd! He was miffed because the final bill had multiple 'extras' (completing the SDLT form etc etc) which pushed the price up enormously, so n these days of competitive conveyancing you have to read the small print.

Do your quotes include SDLT for example/

Hi

The SDLT is always separate to the fee as the solicitor does not know how much the property will sell for

......


Do you have a mortage as that adds a bit

.......

But OP is selling, not buying!!

Good evening

Did you not note the poster I quoted that mentioned "SDLT" and I was referring to that? I was clearly coreecting that poster that the stamp is priced separately as they raised that question.

Thanks