Anyone moved house recently?

[BERGS2]

HI All - just trying to get a straw poll of solicitors fees with regards to conveyancing

Having had a mixed bag in the past - Awful online (sale only), distress purchase (expensive) on the basis of a recommendation - just want to canvas what the going rate is.

As with most things, am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for", but also feel that in this world of digitised records etc, paying £4k in fees for 'basic' conveyancing sounds quite expensive.

any recommendations, any horror stories?

Cheers, Bergs

[p1stonhead]

Budget for a grand either side (sale and purchase). Direct fees are around £750 at my solicitors plus all the other bits of crap that go along with it like searches etc.

Sale should actually be a bit cheaper.

[DevestatinDave]

As a first time buyer it was a flat rate of £750 for me. I made a lot of phone calls to the solicitor in that time and I was warned by friends and family that can result in fees being increased, that wasn't the case.

[3000GT ANT]

Just moved/moving house

selling was £500

and buying is £800

[TNJ]

I am about to exchange - sale and a purchase. Fees around £1600 plus VAT for the actual conveyancing in total, but then there are search fees, Land Registry fees, CHAPS fees for the money transfers etc etc. Total costs will be £2.5k.

This is within Greater London so may be cheaper elsewhere but probably not by much, plus obviously less if only a sale or only a purchase.

[BERGS2]

Cheers all - does seem like my gut feel that £2k plus VAT on each transaction was a bit steep!

(In Surrey, happy to have someone from whereever doing the conveyancing) ;-)

[p1stonhead]

BERGS2 said:

Cheers all - does seem like my gut feel that £2k plus VAT on each transaction was a bit steep!

(In Surrey, happy to have someone from whereever doing the conveyancing) ;-)

I use Howell Jones and they are always fantastic.

[Charlie1986]

BERGS2 said:

Cheers all - does seem like my gut feel that £2k plus VAT on each transaction was a bit steep!

(In Surrey, happy to have someone from whereever doing the conveyancing) ;-)

2k is very steep. Rudd Jepson in Bromley are good and will give you a quote.

[BERGS2]

Thanks for all the advice fellas.

Anyone used this lot: http://www.1stpropertylawyers.co.uk ?

[S6PNJ]

Bergs, My wife and I have used Browns Solicitors, Bucks for buying and selling property (our BTL portfolio so not just a one off) and found them to be great value for money. They also have an online calculator to give a rough estimate of costs.

We are currently using them to buy/sell so still remain happy with them.

[Jasandjules]

Might be wrong but think Rude Boy on here may be able to assist.

[HRH2009]

I was charged £1100 + vat for the sale only of a 500k house. Solicitor had quite a lot of toing-and-frowing to Land Registry as the property was repossessed, in fact he thought he had done a lot work for the money!

[mswarren]

BERGS2 said:

Thanks for all the advice fellas.

Anyone used this lot: http://www.1stpropertylawyers.co.uk ?

Don't touch; even with someone else's barge pole.

They represented the vendor of a BTL I have just bought. Hopeless. Took them months to exchange, and they failed to notice the property was shared ownership until a few days before exchange.

6 months from offer to completion with no chain.

It stil grates, can you tell?

[Sir Bagalot]

BERGS2 said:

Thanks for all the advice fellas.

Anyone used this lot: http://www.1stpropertylawyers.co.uk ?

I also used the on my last purchase. They were brilliant. Very efficient and did things when they said they would.

[brickwall]

I paid £1,250+VAT for the purchase of a leasehold property with no chain (in London). Used Hart Brown solicitors, and was very impressed.

[aspender]

S6PNJ said:

Bergs, My wife and I have used Browns Solicitors, Bucks for buying and selling property (our BTL portfolio so not just a one off) and found them to be great value for money. They also have an online calculator to give a rough estimate of costs.

We are currently using them to buy/sell so still remain happy with them.

Have just used Browns to purchase. No major issues and their costs were as quoted. They did try to get us to take out an indemnity policy which would've been useless (for gas/electric indemnity for no certs when no actual certifiable work had been undertaken since the regs came in!) but as with anything just do your own research on such things and don't be afraid to question advice.

[8Ace]

aspender said:

S6PNJ said:

Bergs, My wife and I have used Browns Solicitors, Bucks for buying and selling property (our BTL portfolio so not just a one off) and found them to be great value for money. They also have an online calculator to give a rough estimate of costs.

We are currently using them to buy/sell so still remain happy with them.

Have just used Browns to purchase. No major issues and their costs were as quoted. They did try to get us to take out an indemnity policy which would've been useless (for gas/electric indemnity for no certs when no actual certifiable work had been undertaken since the regs came in!) but as with anything just do your own research on such things and don't be afraid to question advice.

We used them too - they were brilliant.