Do you pay the conveyancer's fees upfront?

vasso

Hello.

I'm a first time buyer and my offer was accepted yesterday. My financial advisor is going to submit the mortgage application today and she wrote 'Don’t send the solicitors any upfront fee until we know that the application is accepted. I normally find out if there is a problem when I submit the application.'

I got some online quotes and am going to contact a couple of them to discuss their conveyancing fees and the process. However, all of them require a deposit. Is it correct what my financial advisor advised me? What should I say to avoid paying in the meantime?

By the way, the estate agent told me that I have 72 hrs to provide them with a conveyancer. Does this include the weekend?

Sorry if the questions seem silly but I am clueless of the process.

Thanks so much.

Grizebeck

The payment is on account and covers searches.
You can instruct a solicitor but nothing need happen in the meantime 

Jemma01

For my first solicitor I paid 400 upfront.

The second 300 + 75 insurance in case the property falls through.

Your mortgage application can take weeks, which would delay contract draft exchange, identify checks, enquiries, searches, etc. So your agent would try to avoid delays to the sale.

My agent asked for one pretty early on, I said I'm not commissioning anyone until the seller finds a property, and they agreed. In fact I didn't even submit my 2nd mortgage application because that's time bound as well. If it takes them 3 months to find a property I'll need it extended. Didn't want the hassle. Agent understood, but seller was annoyed that we haven't done anything.

eddddy

It sounds like your mortgage adviser is a little uncertain about whether you'll get a mortgage.

You can do something like this, if you want:

• Get quotes from a number of conveyancers/solicitors

• Choose the one you want to go with

• Say something like "I plan to go ahead with you, please send the forms I have to fill in to instruct you. However, I will not be signing and returning those forms, until my mortgage adviser has submitted my mortgage application."

• Give that conveyancer's / solicitor's details to the estate agent, saying you intend to use them. (Maybe say that you are waiting for confirmation from your mortgage adviser before instructing the solicitor - but that might worry the estate agent.)
  
  

The downside of doing it this way is that it will slow down your purchase - and admitting that there may be a problem with your mortgage might worry the estate agent and seller.



Edit to add...

Does your seller need to find a property to buy to move into? Have they found a property yet?

If not, they might not be instructing their solicitor until the chain is complete.

Some people might suggest that you delay applying for a mortgage (and delay instructing a solicitor) until the chain is complete - as that may take many months. (And/or it might not happen, and you have to find another property to buy.)

GDB2222

“ By the way, the estate agent told me that I have 72 hrs to provide them with a conveyancer. Does this include the weekend?”

The estate agent just wants to see reasonable progress. In any case, it is his client's call, not his. 

Neither the agent nor the seller want to put unreasonable pressure on you, so you withdraw your offer. But, they also want to weed out any time wasters pretty quickly. 

badger09

Two pieces of advice regarding selection of conveyancer: 
1 Don’t use the EA’s recommendation. There is invariably an incentive paid, & most, if not all of it will be paid by you. 

2 Don’t use an online factory conveyancer. Might save a few ££ but will likely add time & stress to the whole process. Choose someone local with a physical presence. Personal recommendation if possible.  

Good luck

pjs493

It sounds like your mortgage broker wants to make sure you’re able to get a mortgage before you proceed further. It’s rather surprising that you’re at this point and haven’t had an agreement in principle. 

All conveyancing solicitors will want an up front payment to cover searches and often some sort of ID check too once you’ve completed the paperwork to instruct them in the matter. 

My solicitor asked for circa £250 for searches and circa £12 for an ID and anti-money laundering check.  

Additionally you’ll need to order a survey. In my case the surveying firm asked for payment on the date the survey took place and obviously wouldn’t send the report until they’d received payment. The cost of the survey will depend on what type of survey you want and what sort of quotes you’re getting in your local area. 

RHemmings

I got permission from my solicitors to list them as my conveyancing solicitors before I had signed a contract with my solicitors, and before I had paid them any money. 

However, I had expensive (twice what others on here have paid) reputable local solicitors, and everything went super-smooth and they were helpful, pro- and re-active at all times. So, my experience may not be typical. 

Tiglet2

RHemmings said:

I got permission from my solicitors to list them as my conveyancing solicitors before I had signed a contract with my solicitors, and before I had paid them any money. 

However, I had expensive (twice what others on here have paid) reputable local solicitors, and everything went super-smooth and they were helpful, pro- and re-active at all times. So, my experience may not be typical. 

I bet you don't regret paying double either!!

It might seem to be a good idea to save a few hundred on conveyancing fees but it's not.

BarelySentientAI

Tiglet2 said:

RHemmings said:

I got permission from my solicitors to list them as my conveyancing solicitors before I had signed a contract with my solicitors, and before I had paid them any money. 

However, I had expensive (twice what others on here have paid) reputable local solicitors, and everything went super-smooth and they were helpful, pro- and re-active at all times. So, my experience may not be typical. 

I bet you don't regret paying double either!!

It might seem to be a good idea to save a few hundred on conveyancing fees but it's not.

I've never regretted paying the 'extra'.

Bookworm105

there is no "correct" solution to your situation

until you have a mortgage offer on the table you do not know if you can actually buy, therefore it is wholly counter productive to instruct solicitor (conveyancer) to commence work as, in my experience, they will charge you from that moment onwards and thus, if the purchase falls through, you end up losing money on fees for a property you didn't buy.

it is just a part of the "great game" of juggling balls in the property market under the English system