MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Boring I know, but I'm finally buying a house, and I'm slightly confused by the whole experience.
I've had a couple of quotes which vary massively- how much should I expect to pay for solicitor's fees?
We've just paid about £800 for all the searches, contract and money transfer to the seller. That's in South Wales, not sure how it varies regionally. Ours was local and I'm glad as I could drop various bits into them as needed.
About a grand give or take.
I used an online firm last time (about 11 years ago) and I was very impressed. You could track what had been done and what was outstanding. It was much easier than the previous solicitors I used who were about 1/2 mile from my house (and much cheaper).
About £1600 when we sold and bought using the same solicitor afaicr.
The fees contain 2 separate elements the actual profit costs and the dispersements. Some only quote their profit costs some quote both. Their should be little or no difference between dispersments. So it is the profit costs that will identify the cheeper firm. I would tend to go to a local firm and look for recommendations. An online provider is probably ok as long as things are all in order with title etc and everything goes smoothly. They are geared up to deliver what the customer wants not necessarly what they need. Monitering searches and timeframes is all well and good. But checking title and searches to ensure you are getting what you expected is another. Horror stories include land locked houses where the purchaser has no right of access to their home either to one side or at all, missing info on questionnaire s, uncleared charges on the land or neighbours who have a right of access over the patio. I have come accross all these before I got bored with Conveyancing.
If you a buying a fairly new build house that has changed hands a couple of times then I would be happy using the cheapest and most convenient. An older or rural property then I would use a well regarded high street Solicitors in the area where I was purchasing.
Whilst costs are are important the ability and relationship wih your solicitor is alsi also important. It us is something worth paying a bit more money for. If they cant answer your questions un plain English to the standard you want and struggle to make time for you go elsewhere. If you like email and they don't then go elsewhere.
Recommendations are not always what you'd expect. Ours had some very good recommendations but was a complete asshat.
Used online and local solictor successfully (*online was cheaper though) - local was about 600 inc everything except stamp.
Tip - you can haggle with local solicitors.
Good point about online above - if it's a house with NO issues, otherwise local knowledge/contacts may be helpful.
This is what we paid:
Search Fees £256.00
Land Registry £4.00
Bankruptcy search £4.00
Transfer fee £30.00
Form Fee £60.00
Land registry fee £200.00
Costs £450.00
VAT £90.00
Total £1,094.00
I was tempted to go with a cheaper online provider to begin with, thank God I didn't! From making the offer to getting the keys took 8 months and we were first time buyers with no chain. Having a decent solicitor at the end of the phone was worth the extra £.
£820 ish all-in for us. I'd suggest going with one recommended by friends and family rather than yellow pages/google roulette or merely the cheapest!
I think we spent c£1000 as a first time buyer, 5 weeks from offer to keys. Mortgage people held it up a few days.