How To Choose a Conveyancing Solicitor/Understanding A Quote

Flugelhorn

Hovegull said:

Flugelhorn said:

user1977 said:

The search and land registry fees are being paid to third parties so ignore those, you are comparing what the conveyancers are charging for their own services.

I would avoid firms "recommended" by the estate agent, they may be tempted to overlook problems in the interest of keeping good relationships with the agent.

also have to be wary of referral fees boosting the charges by the conveyancer

agree search / registration fees are all the same 

I did not see any referral fees being charged. This is also my main concern, how can you make sure that once, the whole process is going through, that you don't get overcharged?

there will be no mention of referral fees but there are cases where estate agents get a fee from the conveyancer for referring people. 

most recent property I bought, the EA tried this "we have a good local conveyancer if you need one - very convenient to use them etc etc " 

Flugelhorn

Hovegull said:

user1977 said:

The search and land registry fees are being paid to third parties so ignore those, you are comparing what the conveyancers are charging for their own services.

I would avoid firms "recommended" by the estate agent, they may be tempted to overlook problems in the interest of keeping good relationships with the agent.

I'm confused by you saying to ignore the land registry fees.  If you don't find a solicitor that is recommended, do you just contact any firm. I have all done just that but am still awaiting their fees. I have no way of comparing whether the above is a standard fee for my purchase.

the land registry fees / search fees should be standard as they are set by the land registry and the local council so everyone should charge the same 

Flugelhorn

what would I do ? ask people locally eg on a facebook forum - people will soon tell you which companies are helpful / friendly / contactable (worth a lot) .

I got the last one when I popped in to do a probate oath, asked for a conveyancing quote - they promptly got someone from the department to see me there and then with quote in hand. very helpful - they were always contactable as well 

Tiglet2

Hovegull said:

I'm planning to purchase my very first flat in the UK (between 240 000-275000) and I'm encountering some difficulties to find a solicitor and to understand whether the quotes that I've been given are reasonable.  Two of them have given me a quote for £2500 and one in the area where I plan to buy the property has quoted £5800!   
 This is an example (quote) of one that was recommended to me by the estate agent and is not in the same area. 

Legal fees £949.00

Vat on legal fees £189.80

Search fees £350.00

Land registry fee  - £150.00

Id checking fee - £14.40.

Client abroad - £120.00 inc vat

Leasehold fee £720.00 inc vat

Final LR Searches £13.00

 

Total - £2506.20

Stamp duty based on £250,000.00 and you not being a UK resident - £7500.00

Having read various previous posts on this forum and not having any experience whatsoever with regards to purchasing property in the UK, I'm worried about any possible hidden fees (and how to choose a good solicitor) and  being taking for a ride as it's obvious that I'm a novice when it comes to dealing with solicitors.

Thank you. 

The quote above for £2506.20 includes some fees charged by third parties. 

Land Registry fee - that's the fee charged by Land Registry to enter your name as the owner of the property after you complete.

Searches with mortgage - If you are obtaining a mortgage to buy the property, you will have to buy searches.  Search fees are charged by the search provider company, so again you will have to pay these fees no matter which solicitor you use.

Searches without mortgage - If you are not getting a mortgage, then searches are optional and you don't have to buy them if you don't want to.  I wouldn't recommend that though.

Mortgage - The quote doesn't include any fees for acting on behalf of your mortgage lender, so it assumes you are not obtaining a mortgage.  If you are obtaining a mortgage, then there will be additional charges added to your quote.

Leasehold - Solicitors will charge additional fees for dealing with a leasehold property.  However, there may also be additional fees charged by the management company that your solicitor doesn't yet know about - these become clear when your solicitor receives the leasehold pack from the seller's solicitor.

The only fees you need to be comparing between different conveyancing solicitors their own fees:  

Legal Fees
VAT 
ID Checking Fee
Client Abroad Fee (not heard of this one before).
Final search fees

The more expensive quote may include lots of other potential fees, of which not all of them would be relevant to you.  Are there fees on the other quote that are missing from this quote?. 

For example, some solicitors charge an Archive Fee, but it is not mentioned here on this quote.  Does that mean they don't charge a fee or have failed to include it because you have the "option" not to have your file archived.  However, all solicitor firms are obliged to keep your file for 6 years whether or not you pay an archive fee.

Hovegull

Flugelhorn said:

what would I do ? ask people locally eg on a facebook forum - people will soon tell you which companies are helpful / friendly / contactable (worth a lot) .

I got the last one when I popped in to do a probate oath, asked for a conveyancing quote - they promptly got someone from the department to see me there and then with quote in hand. very helpful - they were always contactable as well 

That is exactly what I did when I started my search but in vain. Either they have used an online solicitor or as they have purchased property decades ago, the solicitors are no longer in business.  I have also contacted on from a local FB group in the area that was highly recommended but the firm's fees were roughly £ 6000

Hovegull

Tiglet2 said:

Hovegull said:

I'm planning to purchase my very first flat in the UK (between 240 000-275000) and I'm encountering some difficulties to find a solicitor and to understand whether the quotes that I've been given are reasonable.  Two of them have given me a quote for £2500 and one in the area where I plan to buy the property has quoted £5800!   
 This is an example (quote) of one that was recommended to me by the estate agent and is not in the same area. 

Legal fees £949.00

Vat on legal fees £189.80

Search fees £350.00

Land registry fee  - £150.00

Id checking fee - £14.40.

Client abroad - £120.00 inc vat

Leasehold fee £720.00 inc vat

Final LR Searches £13.00

 

Total - £2506.20

Stamp duty based on £250,000.00 and you not being a UK resident - £7500.00

Having read various previous posts on this forum and not having any experience whatsoever with regards to purchasing property in the UK, I'm worried about any possible hidden fees (and how to choose a good solicitor) and  being taking for a ride as it's obvious that I'm a novice when it comes to dealing with solicitors.

Thank you. 

The quote above for £2506.20 includes some fees charged by third parties. 

Land Registry fee - that's the fee charged by Land Registry to enter your name as the owner of the property after you complete.

Searches with mortgage - If you are obtaining a mortgage to buy the property, you will have to buy searches.  Search fees are charged by the search provider company, so again you will have to pay these fees no matter which solicitor you use.

Searches without mortgage - If you are not getting a mortgage, then searches are optional and you don't have to buy them if you don't want to.  I wouldn't recommend that though.

Mortgage - The quote doesn't include any fees for acting on behalf of your mortgage lender, so it assumes you are not obtaining a mortgage.  If you are obtaining a mortgage, then there will be additional charges added to your quote.

Leasehold - Solicitors will charge additional fees for dealing with a leasehold property.  However, there may also be additional fees charged by the management company that your solicitor doesn't yet know about - these become clear when your solicitor receives the leasehold pack from the seller's solicitor.

The only fees you need to be comparing between different conveyancing solicitors their own fees:  

Legal Fees
VAT 
ID Checking Fee
Client Abroad Fee (not heard of this one before).
Final search fees

The more expensive quote may include lots of other potential fees, of which not all of them would be relevant to you.  Are there fees on the other quote that are missing from this quote?. 

For example, some solicitors charge an Archive Fee, but it is not mentioned here on this quote.  Does that mean they don't charge a fee or have failed to include it because you have the "option" not to have your file archived.  However, all solicitor firms are obliged to keep your file for 6 years whether or not you pay an archive fee.

That's more helpful to understand. They said that they will not charge me for being abroad as when I purchase the flat, I will be a UK resident. I'm not obtaining a mortgage.

I will ask them about the archive fee as I also would have assumed that it was included.

The main concern that I have is that they will charge more for the proof of funds, as a small percentage of the purchase will be paid by my savings. 

Hovegull

Tiglet2 said:

Hovegull said:

I'm planning to purchase my very first flat in the UK (between 240 000-275000) and I'm encountering some difficulties to find a solicitor and to understand whether the quotes that I've been given are reasonable.  Two of them have given me a quote for £2500 and one in the area where I plan to buy the property has quoted £5800!   
 This is an example (quote) of one that was recommended to me by the estate agent and is not in the same area. 

Legal fees £949.00

Vat on legal fees £189.80

Search fees £350.00

Land registry fee  - £150.00

Id checking fee - £14.40.

Client abroad - £120.00 inc vat

Leasehold fee £720.00 inc vat

Final LR Searches £13.00

 

Total - £2506.20

Stamp duty based on £250,000.00 and you not being a UK resident - £7500.00

Having read various previous posts on this forum and not having any experience whatsoever with regards to purchasing property in the UK, I'm worried about any possible hidden fees (and how to choose a good solicitor) and  being taking for a ride as it's obvious that I'm a novice when it comes to dealing with solicitors.

Thank you. 

The quote above for £2506.20 includes some fees charged by third parties. 

Land Registry fee - that's the fee charged by Land Registry to enter your name as the owner of the property after you complete.

Searches with mortgage - If you are obtaining a mortgage to buy the property, you will have to buy searches.  Search fees are charged by the search provider company, so again you will have to pay these fees no matter which solicitor you use.

Searches without mortgage - If you are not getting a mortgage, then searches are optional and you don't have to buy them if you don't want to.  I wouldn't recommend that though.

Mortgage - The quote doesn't include any fees for acting on behalf of your mortgage lender, so it assumes you are not obtaining a mortgage.  If you are obtaining a mortgage, then there will be additional charges added to your quote.

Leasehold - Solicitors will charge additional fees for dealing with a leasehold property.  However, there may also be additional fees charged by the management company that your solicitor doesn't yet know about - these become clear when your solicitor receives the leasehold pack from the seller's solicitor.

The only fees you need to be comparing between different conveyancing solicitors their own fees:  

Legal Fees
VAT 
ID Checking Fee
Client Abroad Fee (not heard of this one before).
Final search fees

The more expensive quote may include lots of other potential fees, of which not all of them would be relevant to you.  Are there fees on the other quote that are missing from this quote?. 

For example, some solicitors charge an Archive Fee, but it is not mentioned here on this quote.  Does that mean they don't charge a fee or have failed to include it because you have the "option" not to have your file archived.  However, all solicitor firms are obliged to keep your file for 6 years whether or not you pay an archive fee.

The 2nd option which is far more expensive is as follows:

Legal Fees   £2 250
Admin Fees  £360
Searches       £450

Sub total      £3 330

Land Registry  £150

There is an option as follows:

Fixed Rate of £ 2 775
Hourly Rate of between £ 2000- 5000

They also included the stamp duty which I didn't initially see which is (ordinary rate) £ 2300