Solicitors are they more of a rip-off than IT contractors?

[woohoo]

I'm buying and selling a house and quoted 2.4k to handle the sale of my house and the purchase of another.

It seems so straightforward, why would it cost 2.4k? Is this a normal going rate? This is a solicitor recommended by the agent of the house we are buying, any recommendations on choosing a solicitor?

God, please forgive me for posting this in general.

[doconline]

I'm buying and selling a house and quoted 2.4k to handle the sale of my house and the purchase of another.

It seems so straightforward, why would it cost 2.4k? Is this a normal going rate? This is a solicitor recommended by the agent of the house we are buying, any recommendations on choosing a solicitor?

God, please forgive me for posting this in general.

That's probably not far off as they are handling both a sale and a purchase. Have you had a breakdown of both. I imagine the purchase is most expensive as there are the extras like searches etc. You could ring round a few local firms and get quotes, alternatively you could use one of the online conveyancing places, they are usually cheaper, not sure on the quality though.

I did get a quote through reallymoving.com. I think you get 3 quotes from them, they were cheaper than a local firm, but not by much, so i went with a recommended local firm.

[Zigenare]

Bought our last house 5 years ago. Just checked the bill £1028 - we weren't selling, just buying.

What you've been quoted for both ends seems reasonable.

[GhostofTarbera]

I have a solicitor friend he says most is outsourced to an Indian company for £5 /hour who check and put everything together - he just takes a 15 min glance before billing

[WTFH]

Sounds about right: £1000+VAT per transaction.

[ladymuck]

I wouldn't go with a solicitor recommended by the agent though. Chances are some of that fee is going to them in commission.

Always get quotes from local and web-based conveyancers. I prefer local as you can just pop into the offices to do things like verify your identity and sign documents without the worry of losing things in the post.

[fiisch]

£2400 - for an average IT contractor, that's about 5 days worth of work.

In that time, a solicitor will sell your entire house for you.

An IT contractor may have just about chosen the font for the BRD.

In conclusion, in answer to the original question, no, probably not.

[Whorty]

I'm buying and selling a house and quoted 2.4k to handle the sale of my house and the purchase of another.

It seems so straightforward, why would it cost 2.4k? Is this a normal going rate? This is a solicitor recommended by the agent of the house we are buying, any recommendations on choosing a solicitor?

God, please forgive me for posting this in general.

Bought and sold in 2015 and solicitor fees (excluding searches, land registry etc) was £2.5k so seems right. Compared to stamp duty this was small change!!!!

[Martin@AS Financial]

I'm buying and selling a house and quoted 2.4k to handle the sale of my house and the purchase of another.

It seems so straightforward, why would it cost 2.4k? Is this a normal going rate? This is a solicitor recommended by the agent of the house we are buying, any recommendations on choosing a solicitor?

God, please forgive me for posting this in general.

Personal recommendation is the way forward here. Whilst price is obviously a significant factor, a cheap Solicitor can be an extremely costly mistake. If things go wrong you want someone who is on your side and is available to speak to which in my experience, you tend not to get from the large low cost call centre style firms.

[AtW]

£2.5k is like daily growth in house prices.

BUY BUY BUY!!!

HTH

DimPrawn