tatty Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 I know this is a bit rich on hpc forum but i'd rather get advice from here rather than some rose-tinted site where buying a house is a beautiful experience. I've posted before to say i'm buying my first (very) over-priced house. The EA has suggested I use their solicitors (they would). Anyway, i've got a breakdown of costs and it comes to £2948. This includes stamp duty but not survey fees (around £500). I'm happy to post a full breakdown if someone with experience can say if this is a reasonable price, searched the web but no price comparison sites for solicitors. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyMe Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 I know this is a bit rich on hpc forum but i'd rather get advice from here rather than some rose-tinted site where buying a house is a beautiful experience. I've posted before to say i'm buying my first (very) over-priced house. The EA has suggested I use their solicitors (they would). Anyway, i've got a breakdown of costs and it comes to £2948. This includes stamp duty but not survey fees (around £500). I'm happy to post a full breakdown if someone with experience can say if this is a reasonable price, searched the web but no price comparison sites for solicitors. Cheers. Tatty, work out the stamp duty and post us the net cost of solicitor's fees. Used conveyancer's in the past and had no problems, they are cheaper too, need to pick one with a reasonable reputation, get a few quotes. With a bit of luck you'll pick a bad one, it will all go Pete Tong and takes ages and give you enough time to judge where the marlet is really going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munimula Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 I know this is a bit rich on hpc forum but i'd rather get advice from here rather than some rose-tinted site where buying a house is a beautiful experience. I've posted before to say i'm buying my first (very) over-priced house. The EA has suggested I use their solicitors (they would). Anyway, i've got a breakdown of costs and it comes to £2948. This includes stamp duty but not survey fees (around £500). I'm happy to post a full breakdown if someone with experience can say if this is a reasonable price, searched the web but no price comparison sites for solicitors. Cheers. ...and people say renting is a waste of money. The costs associated with buying, keeping up a house are huge. You need to show a breakdown of the solicitor fees as you say that total includes stamp duty which is probably the bigger part of the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatty Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 Breakdown: Our costs in connection with this purchase £465+vat mortgage costs (acting on lenders behalf) £95+vat stamp duty land tax form £75+vat preliminary searches £275+vat stamp duty £1720 telegraphic transfer fee £41 land registry fee £150 land charges/bankruptcy search fee £16 total cost £2948 In addition i've got the following costs: mid-level (not basic) survey £500 mortgage arrangement fee £400 total cost: approx ££3900 how does it look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munimula Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Breakdown: Our costs in connection with this purchase £465+vat mortgage costs (acting on lenders behalf) £95+vat stamp duty land tax form £75+vat preliminary searches £275+vat stamp duty £1720 telegraphic transfer fee £41 land registry fee £150 land charges/bankruptcy search fee £16 total cost £2948 In addition i've got the following costs: mid-level (not basic) survey £500 mortgage arrangement fee £400 total cost: approx ££3900 how does it look? Looks about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 A am a lawyer but not a property lawyer/conveyancer. I live in London and prices will differ regionally but this is one of the most competitive areas of all so you should be able to pay almost b*gger all. If your house is freehold and registered at Land Registry (v likely) and you have no sale (ie purchase only) then if you look hard you should not be paying more than £400-500 for the legal fees themselves plus VAT and disbursements. The disbursements on top (which are incurred by the solicitor and which he passes on to you) can add up - local authority searches are £150-£200, Land Reg searches/registrations £20-50 I think (you can check on Land Reg website). You should ring a few solicitors from the phonebook and ask for a "fixed price fee" for the conveyancing. While a solicitor with a link to an estate agent is not necessarily a bad thing (they can reduce their costs because of the volume of work they are fed) I value independence (ie someone to watch for horrors in the deeds/title, independent of their next job..) The private sector costs of buying a house are very low in the UK (eg survey/legal) for what you are receiving (compare to what the estate agent earns!) - the public sector costs are huge (stamp duty, Local Authority costs and Land Reg etc). Sorry - crossed posts - looks about right to me too given what I said - although you can check the preliminary searches costs and land reg costs online at your local authority and Land Reg - they look a little high to me but could be inflation since I last looked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyMe Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 I value independence (ie someone to watch for horrors in the deeds/title, independent of their next job..) VERY good point, the EA may not be around next year - don;t want to be exposed to a nefarious tie up between an EA and dodgy solicitor. Never trust what the EA has to say about a property, paticulalry when it comes to details as most of the the time they don't know or will verbally tell you what you wnat to hear in order to get a sale - this is usually more important during the buying process as you find yourslef committed having spent all the money on surveys and fees by the time you find out the reality fo who actually owns this plot of land or access rights etc, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatty Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 I've looked at the solicitors website: http://www.homefast.co.uk/default.htm Meaningless exercise other than it looks 'reasonably' professional. Time is very important so I suppose i'm looking for everthing to go as quickly as possible so i'm happy to pay a 'bit' over if using this ea/solicitor combo speeds things up. That said, I can see the pitfalls of this relationship being too 'close'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 (edited) Any website can look professional. However, lets get one thing straight, this is a volume conveyancing outfit - the call centres of conveyancing - a few senior lawyers employ a huge number of conveyancers/junior lawyers (cheaper) and do loads of deals to make their money. They probably are very professional but you will not be getting the close level of one to one advice/input you could get from a less "commoditised" provider. If you value speed of transaction I am sure they are efficient but personally these kind of outfits are too "conveyor belt" for me ( I like to meet my lawyer and know that he has not just come out of training...) Edited October 20, 2005 by Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyMe Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Tempest, Any website can look professional. However, lets get one thing straight, this is a volume conveyancing outfit - the call centres of conveyancing - a few senior lawyers employ a huge number of conveyancers/junior lawyers (cheaper) and do loads of deals to make their money. They probably are very professional but you will not be getting the close level of one to one advice/input you could get from a less "commoditised" provider. If you value speed of transaction I am sure they are efficient but personally these kind of outfits are too "conveyor belt" for me ( I like to meet my lawyer and know that he has not just come out of training...) Sorry I think I muddied the waters a bit by mentioning conveyancing services. Tatty, take Tempest's advice - I stress again the conveyancing services I've used in the past were a known entity, local, had a good reputation and had been in business a long time - I also checked them out personally. The added perceived advantage was that they were approachable and you didn't get the impression that they were much more interested in other work and charging by the minute for a phone call and so had time to deal with enquiries. Just my experience anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMTension Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 The costs look pretty standard (used to work in a solicitors). What you need to do is check if they are likely to increase charges if the transaction is complicated. Also check that solicitor is experienced in residential property purchase - is this his main area of expertise, better going with one who does it all the time - they get things done quicker and are better at spotting icebergs. If your prospective property has had any alterations ie. extensions, changes to its structure ie beams put in through rooms to make it open plan, conservatories etc. then these all need to comply with planning regulations and building regulations. If there is any doubt you or the vendor may need to pay additional charges for indemnity insurance in case it is not clear whether they comply. This insurance is a good idea as when you eventually want to sell later this makes it easier for a sale. You also need to check whether there are any boundary issues - is it clear who owns what fence and whether any construction/extension has implications with the Party Wall Act. Equally if you plan to purchase with a view to make changes do your research first, planning officers can be quite slippery. Some experienced purchasers prefer to apply for planning permission and get approval prior to exchanging contracts. Do go along to the local planning office and check whether there is going to be building developments in the area where you are moving to. Have a good look at rights of way on your deeds, shared driveways, communal facilities etc are you going to have increasing costs/aggravation in the future. Are you going to have any control over these costs or are you going to have to cough up anyway? Just a few pointers - hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondebier Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 I know quite a few people that have used these guys. http://www.conveyancing-cms.co.uk/ It might be worth getting a quote... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormy Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 (edited) I know this is a bit rich on hpc forum but i'd rather get advice from here rather than some rose-tinted site where buying a house is a beautiful experience. I've posted before to say i'm buying my first (very) over-priced house. The EA has suggested I use their solicitors (they would). Anyway, i've got a breakdown of costs and it comes to £2948. This includes stamp duty but not survey fees (around £500). I'm happy to post a full breakdown if someone with experience can say if this is a reasonable price, searched the web but no price comparison sites for solicitors. Cheers. Tatty, I am using a solicitor also suggested by the EA. although the girl I deal with at the EA is actually also using this guy to buy/sell at the moment. My house is under Stamp Duty threshold, 120k and he is charging me £638.50 inclusive of all searches. Max Gold the Solicitor I used and dicthed when I pulled out on a purchase earlier this year were charging £750 ish. Not sorted mortgage costs and fees yet so that will be additional for me. Hope this helps. Mike Edited October 20, 2005 by stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatty Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 Thanks for all the advice. Made a few phone calls and i've saved over £800 by arranging it myself instead of using the people the estate agent suggested (they must be on a right kick-back). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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