:: Pushy Broker ::

Dan_Collins_2

How much a person earns should not be an excuse for shoddy work! I treat a client that earns me £1000 the same as one that earns me £200, the £200 may just tell his/her friends about me!

palmeras69

The thing is it's impossible to work out the actual solicitor income. The total solicitor costs excluding stamp duty might be £1,000. But then the actual legal fee in there could be £299, with itemised costs for Searches (local and environmental) etc. And even then I've seen quotes itemise these expenses, but then go on to explicitly say that this might not be actually what they cost. i.e. they could be charging £150 for searches, but have a deal with the search company so that they are only paying them £50 and pocketing the difference. If that happens then it is wrong. End of. A completion statement should detail EXACTLY what the solicitor's fees are and also the disbursements (searches etc.). No solicitor should take money for disbursements that aren't actually paid out. A solicitor should not be pocketing the difference - I have never come across this but would have no hesitation in reporting a solicitor to the Law Society (or SRA these days) if it was happening.

palmeras69

dunstonh wrote: »

Really?

How can the figure be more when the typical commission on a mortgage is 0.3%? Solicitors routinely charge around the £1000 mark now. A £100k mortgage earns the mortgage adviser £300. (before costs).

You will find that most solicitors are lucky to get anything like £300.00 in fees on a residential £100k remortgage. The solicitor's total bill may be quite a bit higher but most of that will be search costs and other disbursements. Of course, the solicitor's fee will be higher on a purchase as opposed to a mortgage alone but there is more work to do. However, even then, a solicitor acting on a £100k purchase (very rare I know) will usually get nothing like £1000.00.

homer_j_3

solicitors basic legal costs depend on whether you are buying, selling or buying selling etc.

Buying you will normally see a basi cost of £300-600 and the same for selling. Clearly it depends on house prices but these figures will normally cover the lower and average house prices