Online Conveyancer.... best option?

Snozzle

We have a small area of land to sell.  It is in my sole name and has it's own Title (which I have).  I have had several offers.  As the value is less than £10,000, I am trying to find the cheapest conveyancer / solicitor to do the work on my behalf. 

One of the offers has come in saying they do not need a coal mine report done as it has been in place for years but all the online quotes I am getting include Search pack fees close to £200....  Slightly annoying is a CHAPS fee payment of c £50 - £60 and post and incidentals of £60 - £80 (when so much is done online).

I understand whether the Title is valued at £5,000 or £150,000, it is the time taken to complete the work but wonder if anyone has any ideas on how to approach a solicitor / conveyancer with the idea that perhaps send a faster payment instead of CHAPS and reduce the fees and exclude the coal mine report.  The 2 I have spoken to say it is a flat fee meaning they take from 15 - 25% of the sale price.  I need no advice, just the conveyancing done.  Thanks

chrisw

Surely the buyer would pay for a coal report? Add the cost of the fees to the price of the land?

user1977

Firstly "online" conveyancer is a bit of a misnomer - it's not as if there are "offline" conveyancers who use quills and parchment - everybody uses phones and the internet in the same way, it's just an indicator of being a conveyancing factory which is (probably) not on your High Street. And for this sort of property it might be a disadvantage as it doesn't quite fit on their usual conveyor belt.

The CHAPS fee is mostly the solicitors' fee for the admin of doing the bank transfer so might not change much if at all for other methods.

I'm guessing the land is in Scotland if they're quoting for searches as a seller? Whether you get a coal report is up for negotiation with the buyer - if the land isn't being developed (is it?) it seems irrelevant. Is it even on a coalfield? They'll have standard quotes set up assuming everybody is dealing with houses/flats rather than random bits of land.

Tiglet2

On a sale you would be expected to pay for up-to-date official copies of the title and any associated documents from Land Registry (typically £7 each document plus an admin fee).

Search fees (including any additional reports, i.e. coal mining) are paid by the buyer, not the seller.

The conveyancer still has a similar workload for the sale of land compared to the sale of property, so quotes would reflect the time/work involved rather than the value of the sale.

I doubt the solicitor will send the money by faster payment - but you can ask for a cheque to be posted/collected by you (?!), to save the cost of the CHAPS fee if you prefer.

user1977

Tiglet2 said:

Search fees (including any additional reports, i.e. coal mining) are paid by the buyer, not the seller.

As above I think we're talking Scotland here.

Snozzle

Online - as in working from home - I almost want an individual working alone, with lower overheads / no staff / no office buildings to maintain other than their home office.  The land is developed - property - just low value.  One quote was over £2,000 which feels excessive, though surmising they either don't want the work or quote was auto-generated as it really will be a simple transfer - no mortgage, delays etc as cash buyer.

Tiglet2

Snozzle said:

Online - as in working from home - I almost want an individual working alone, with lower overheads / no staff / no office buildings to maintain other than their home office.  The land is developed - property - just low value.  One quote was over £2,000 which feels excessive, though surmising they either don't want the work or quote was auto-generated as it really will be a simple transfer - no mortgage, delays etc as cash buyer.

Is it Scotland OP?

user1977

Snozzle said:

Online - as in working from home - I almost want an individual working alone, with lower overheads / no staff / no office buildings to maintain other than their home office.

That's not really the way to reduce costs, running a one-person law firm isn't easy - regulation means there's a huge amount of overheads to deal with (Law Society-compliant cash systems, indemnity insurance, compulsory training to be managing the firm etc) before you even start collecting fees, and then you'll have a relatively highly-qualified solicitor doing a £10k transaction. The cheapest fees are going to be the bigger firms with work delegated to the lowest level possible.

What sort of mystery "property" is it?

Snozzle

A small brick outbuilding on the land.  Thanks for all your thoughts.  Very helpful.