Conveyancing | The Contracts.
Whilst most people hate the paperwork side of things it is important to go through the contract with your conveyancing solicitor...link
Understand your solicitors conveyancing quote.
When you looking for a conveyancing solicitor we recommend that you contact a few to compare, obviously, the price is a major consideration but it's not the only factor you should look for when appointing a conveyancing solicitor.
All quotes will not look the same, so it's important you understand just what is being quoted. However, the solicitors' layout their quote; they will always pretty much contain the same items.
You will have two sections, the Legal fees and the disbursement, which is a common word for costs incurred by others that can be passed on to the client; we will look at these later.
Legal FeesThis is the fee charged by the solicitor for their time in processing the work, whilst most firms have a fixed fee dependant on the sale or purchase cost, this is not always the case as a conveyancing transaction can be complicated, and the solicitor may quote outside of the scale.
It would not be advisable to enter into an agreement with a solicitor for conveyancing on an hourly rate, as, whilst they can give you an estimate of cost, this is not necessarily what you will pay.
Most firms will incorporate all activities they undertake in the one fee, but you need to check this, some firms quote for legal services but also detail charges for
All these will be payable if you are in doubt, double-check with the solicitor to ensure the conveyancing quote for legal fees is the amount you will pay and no extras.
An added extra sometimes attached to a quote as an option is an insurance, quite often called 'no move no fee', the insurance is often self-insured by the firm of solicitors and pledges that, should your move not go ahead, you will not have to pay any legal fees accrued to date.
If you receive a quote that on the face of it seems much lower than others, dig deeper to ensure you will not get hit with excessive add on's, you should always look at the entirety of the quote including disbursements.
Disbursements.
As mentioned, these are costs incurred by the conveyancing solicitors that are passed onto you.
These should be fairly standard, and cover fees charged by the land registry and fees for searches that may need to be undertaken.
The land registry fee.
When you buy or sell a property, the details relating to that property need to be registered with the Land Registry. The fees charged by the land registry are on their website, the size of the fee will depend upon the value of the property, very rare in this day and age the Land registry reduced their fees in 2012 to reflect major changes they made to the organisation, the average fee charged now for a property of £160,000 is just over £200.
Stamp Duty.
This is the big one and unavoidable for any property purchase over £125,000 you will have to pay 1% on the purchase price, and rising in percentage up to 7% for purchases of properties over £2 million pounds. For example, on a property purchase of £300,000, you will have to pay 3% on completion a fee of £9,000
Searches.
Speak to your solicitor about which searches they will want to undertake, it does depend on the location of the property and guidance/instructions the solicitors have been given. Some locations will need a mining search, some will need to cover flood risk. The point of the searches is for the solicitor to check that you, and your mortgage company, are not buying a property that has a risk that you are not aware of. For example, if there is a possibility that your property could subside because you are above an old mine, or flood because you are in a flood area, the value of your property may go down, and your mortgage company will not be keen to lend against the security of the house.
Terms and Conditions.
Read through the terms and conditions to see if any other fees apply, and if you are unsure about any terms, ask.
It's important that you are happy with the price but remember price is not everything, speak to the conveyancer, if possible go and see them; the relationship you have with the conveyancing solicitor is very important, whether that is through your estate agent or direct.
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