Discussion
Hi all.
The fiancée and I have had an offer agreed on a property recently. We have had a quote from the estate agents for their conveyancing service. Unfortunately I don't know how much these things should cost. The quote is below and is on a property at £149,950.
xLegal fee 349.00
xMortgage fee 65.00
xStamp Duty Land Tax fee 55.00
Additional Costs:
xLocal/Water/Enviro searches
294.02
xLand Registry fee 200.00
xStamp Duty Land Tax 1,499.00
xLand Registry searches 23.00
xChancel Repair Liability 30.00
VAT on Lawyer's Fees 93.80
Total £2,608.82
If first time buyers and eligible for stamp duty relief cost would be £1109.82.
My fiancée owns a property but I have never had a mortgage.
Could anyone please provide any advice?
The fiancée and I have had an offer agreed on a property recently. We have had a quote from the estate agents for their conveyancing service. Unfortunately I don't know how much these things should cost. The quote is below and is on a property at £149,950.
xLegal fee 349.00
xMortgage fee 65.00
xStamp Duty Land Tax fee 55.00
Additional Costs:
xLocal/Water/Enviro searches
294.02
xLand Registry fee 200.00
xStamp Duty Land Tax 1,499.00
xLand Registry searches 23.00
xChancel Repair Liability 30.00
VAT on Lawyer's Fees 93.80
Total £2,608.82
If first time buyers and eligible for stamp duty relief cost would be £1109.82.
My fiancée owns a property but I have never had a mortgage.
Could anyone please provide any advice?
russ_a said:
Maybe I am missing something but the actual fee looks like £349. The rest are standard charges that you will pay no matter what
I did a few quotes on Money Supermarket where I was pointed to by another and they have come back different for the non-legal bits too. Now have a range between £2300-£2700. Thanks nammynake, I have sent a PM.
skip_1 said:
Thanks to the guys that have Pm'd some details of solicitors.
A lot of you have mentioned not skimping on the conveyancing. Are we talking about items being missed off of the searches by less competent firms?
It's not just that but someone who pays attention to things like Covenents and if anything unusual comes up you will want a half decent person dealing with it. You also want to make sure that the flat fee includes being able to chat to them a fair bit etc as some places charge per letter and telephone call on top....A lot of you have mentioned not skimping on the conveyancing. Are we talking about items being missed off of the searches by less competent firms?
As for H&A being in Chelmsford, that may be a bit of a problem when it comes to signing the documents but I can't see why that couldn't be done then have them sent by post - ok it's a delay and all that but still. And for an ID check you could pop into a local firm...
But obviously if you can find a local one who is really good that's a bonus!
skip_1 said:
Thanks to the guys that have Pm'd some details of solicitors.
A lot of you have mentioned not skimping on the conveyancing. Are we talking about items being missed off of the searches by less competent firms?
As others have pointed out the SDLT fee and mortgage fee are a fiction to make the legal fees look better than they are. A proper firm knows that 90% of clients have a mortgage and 99.9% of transactions require an SDLT return so they are just being obtuse by quoting those separately.A lot of you have mentioned not skimping on the conveyancing. Are we talking about items being missed off of the searches by less competent firms?
The search fees are a little odd as for the price of their Local, Water and Envio we usually get a Plansearch thrown in as well.
Chancel repairs – I never quote for one of those until I know what and where the Property is as it is the biggest con out there at the minute. Sure if you own an old barn conversion next to a church with a Rector then you might get one but plot 281 on an estate? Waste of money.
The LR searches look a little steep, £8 should cover the pre-completion searches and I note they have not told you the cost of the TT fee which should be no more than about £20 inc vat. (ours are £15+vat)
All in not the most impressive quote I have seen, certainly a few concerns about omissions and the smoke and mirrors. The fees (when added) are a ball park for a bucket shop operation.
What you need to remember is that the Agent will also be getting a kick back from the sweat shop and so you’ll be paying £469+vat for a job worth £250-£269+vat at an educated guess.
A proper solicitor would be charging iro £600-£650+vat at your price point for their fee.
Why pay the extra? Well for a start you get to speak to the organ grinder, you get someone who looks after your matter, not just one of a team who have no idea who Mr Skip 1 is even after you have spoken to them a couple of times and you get someone who is aware of more than just what the title should look like. When it all goes to plan then you might think that you could have got it done cheaper but then why did it all go to plan in the first place and also when the s
t hits the fan, as it does from time to time, the last thing you want is a bunch of people who have less than 6 months training between them dealing with your matter.Don't worry about distance either as you can get your ID done locally and use anyone you like for the work. Most proper firms have standard letters for this as it's not unusual. I'm based near Norwich but have clients in North Wales, London, Thirsk, Cornwall, the Midlands and thats before the overseas ones get added in.
It’s always amused me how people will entrust the purchase of £100k+ assets to the lowest bidder
If you’d like me to e-mail you a proper quote send me a PM and I’ll sort it in the morning as I’m just off for a meeting.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff