I am about to purchase my first home and have obtained quotes from a couple of local solicitors (North East) for dealing with the purchase. I am being quoted around 850 including VAT and all "disbursements".
Does this seem reasonable? Also, is it compulsory to have all of the different searches carried out? I'm not really sure what they entail, but water, environmental and many other searches were listed.
TIA, Snuggles
You should shop around for other quotes. It would be incredibly foolish not to have the searches done.
Peter Crosland
Agreed - although 850 incl VAT probably isn't too outrageous, so if one has come recommended I probably wouldn't shop around any more.
The biggest Con to watch out for these days is probably the mortgage payment protection scheme. If you haven't got kids then forget about it. If you have you can get it cheaper by shopping around for it independently and have it cover more than the mortgage. But probably still full of caveats.
but look at this for flooding as it gives different results
What does your mortgage company say on the matter of you not using a solicitor?
Conveyancing fees usually depend in part on the value of the property. If this fee includes all disbursements I would guess that you property is costing less than £120k.
The exact searches you will need depends on the location of your property. There will be some standard ones (such as the local search) but some will vary (e.g. coal mining search).
Once you have stripped all of these out the fee doesn't sound unreasonable, but it is always worth ringing round for a few quotes. Remember though that as with many things in life you get what you pay for. Cheaper quotes may may mean a lower service level.
The price seems reasonable, though you might get slightly cheaper.
There is no law saying you have to get the searches, but it is a very good idea as they could reveal problems that make your new house worthless, or even land you with a bill that is higher than what your place is worth. Your mortgage co will probably insist on them.
850 is expensive for the North East. I have used a solicitor in Middlesbrough for thirty years who specializes in conveyancing and charges half that. Get a few more quotes.
The searches are important but they do not tell you everything. It is always a good idea to have a chat with neighbours or customers in the local pubs etc who will let you know any rumours about the area as well as stuff that has been decided by the council.
terryw
And make sure you have a wander around the area late on a Friday & Saturday night.
Not being funny, but have you bought a house recently? £425 will hardly cover the searches these days.
Agreed. Just in the process of buying a house and searches are about 500, solicitor 350 plus VAT
Mark BR
Oops sorry, Mark, you are right. I had not realized the cost of the searches had gone up so much. Although there are solicitors on the web who only charge 250 plus disbursements. terryw
I had a look at a couple on the web out of interest. There was one that was quoting £155 plus VAT which I couldn't believe. But then when you look closer you see a £35 charge of archiving papers; £50 fee for acting for the mortgage lender; £30 administration of searches fee, and so on. These are all costs from the solicitors that take their fee upwards of £200. A bit like the budget, the devil is in the detail!
The disbursements will be pretty much the same, whoever you use. It's the fees for conveyancing which are more variable.
Are you with a Trade Union? If so, you might find that they offer access to a reasonably-priced conveyancing service.
I recently bought at £230k, and the conveyancing fees were £270+VAT, plus the usual disbursements. There were none of the additional fees which have been suggested above for some of the cheaper web-based conveyancers. The service was fine, and even the CHAPS bank transfer fee was lower than most (I think it was £15).
Thanks to all for your comments and advice. Having done a bit more ringing around, I've found that the handful of solicitors in my immediate local area all charge roughly the same for their own fees (450 + VAT) with disbursements on top.
However, someone at work highly recommended the solicitor he used for his recent move (based in the next town 15 miles away), and they've quoted a fixed fee of 280 + VAT + disbursements. I was worried it sounded too good to be true, but they assure me there are no other hidden costs. I forgot to say in my original post, the purchase price is 72,000 (for a 60% share of the equity).
Snuggles
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