The time has come to sell your house, and you are asking yourself a million questions: ‘What is a good asking price?’ ‘How will I move my furniture and other possessions out?’ ‘Where do I advertise?’ You’ll likely also be frantically hammering away at a calculator, working out budgets and determining just how much a house sale is going to cost you.
If this sounds like you, then we’ve just one more ingredient that we’d like to throw in to your budgetary mix; solicitors fees. These costs are often overlooked in favour of the bigger hitting estate agent fees, but solicitors’ fees can really add up. With that in mind, we’ve put together a short article detailing what levels of legal fees you might expect with a traditional house sale.
What does a solicitor do?
It is customary to hire a solicitor or licensed conveyancer when you undertake the sale of your home or other major property. These trained and certified professionals will handle all the legal work that comes with selling your house. Unless you are solicitor yourself or you have extensive experience in real estate dealings, it is neither safe nor wise to proceed without engaging the services of an experienced and trustworthy conveyancer.
What are the average solicitor or conveyancer fees?
As mentioned above, a solicitor provides a highly specialised service that guarantees the legality of your home sale and takes a major burden off your shoulders. Such sophisticated work comes with a price tag, of course. When you hire a licensed conveyancer to help you sell your house, you can expect a fee that ranges between £500 and £1,800. Depending on the size of your property and the profit you stand to make, this may seem negligible or substantial. Either way, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to the exact size of the solicitor’s fee which we’ll cover in the following sections.
How are solicitor fees calculated?
The most important determinant of the size of a conveyancer’s fee is the nature of the transaction; the more complicated the sale of your house is, the more a solicitor will want to charge you. Some properties have an easy ownership structure and find similarly non-complicated buyers, consequently meaning that there is little additional work for a solicitor to do apart from setting up a straightforward transfer of ownership. Other houses come with complicated legal entanglements that require careful legal planning and extra attention to multiple vital details. The latter costs more, naturally, and we’ve covered more about this in a separate conveyancing article.
Should you look for fixed-rate or percentage-based conveyancing fees?
Knowing the price of your property and the level of complexity of the impending transaction can play to your advantage when choosing a solicitor. Some solicitors work with fixed-rate fees, while others charge you a fee that is based on a percentage of your property’s sale value. Since you are aware of both factors surrounding your specific transaction, you can shop around and find the best service for the lowest fee. For example, if you are selling a small and uncomplicated property, you are most likely to save money with a percentage-based conveyancing fee. If the opposite is true, do your best to negotiate a fixed rate that satisfies both sides.
Not all solicitors were created equal…
When looking for the most agreeable conveyancing fee on the market, keep in mind that the number on the dotted line is not always the end of the story. If a solicitor’s fee is attractively low, inquire about the average time they take to complete their work on a house sale. Perhaps the fee is low because the conveyancing professional is running a one-person operation and, therefore, needs more hours, days, or even weeks to cover every step of the process properly. If you value transparency and communication, then perhaps it is worth paying more for a solicitor who will be reachable by telephone, email, or even text and provide you with regular updates. A cheap conveyancing contract usually does not include such luxuries. Consider your personal wants and budget for them accordingly.
If you’re planning to sell your home with Yopa, then we’ve partnered up with Aventria to offer competitive, stress-free and simple conveyancing. It means less hassle for you, and more time for the big move. Find out more at this link.
