Fixed price property legal packages

chuckles30

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, but here goes.

I've found a house that I would like to buy and am just starting to sort out the mortgage and stuff. The thing is I've seen a fixed price legal sevice advertised where they do the conveyancing etc for 950+vat+outlay & I'm just wondering if there are any drawbacks with this service? It seems to be a good saving on the normal % charged by solicitors. Has anyone used this service? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

FreeAnd..

very few offices actually use % anymore. Your best bet is to go to myHomes or daft and get the email addresses for as many solicitors as you can. Then email them asking for a full quote based on the price of the property, whether it includes/excludes vat, how much any extras will cost and how much the total price will cost. By doing this you will see a huge difference in prices and also see that very few go based as a % of the property price. I also found this to be the best way to shop around as you can get full price list and service list pretty quickly and cheaply...to answer your question - there is no difference in the service that they provide but depending on the solicitor you choose there might be a big difference in how they go about providing that service. More expensive does not guarantee a better service

Victor

Just be wary of some of the low cost packages, especially where they are tied to a mortgage deal. You may not be getting independent legal advice.

joejoem

chuckles30 wrote:

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, but here goes.

I've found a house that I would like to buy and am just starting to sort out the mortgage and stuff. The thing is I've seen a fixed price legal sevice advertised where they do the conveyancing etc for 950+vat+outlay & I'm just wondering if there are any drawbacks with this service? It seems to be a good saving on the normal % charged by solicitors. Has anyone used this service? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

I went through a company like that called First Credit Mortgages in Town. Got my Legal fee's for €690 + Vat and went through one of the top Dublin Solicitors Partners At Law. They were brilliant, the vendors solicitor was acting the bollix, the sale was delayed by two months and they wanted to push it forward another month or two again. They cut that out, and all in all they were excellent. I would really recomend First Credit. I met them one morning and went throug a few forms in about a half hour and that was it. I had to get one or two other things signed (life insurance etc) but the half hour meeting at the start got pretty much everything sorted.

I'm on a lower intrest rate than Ive heard of around too. they are on www.firstcredit.ie and the number is 2845851

chuckles30

Thanks for the feedback - I actually did ring around the local solicitors and as freeand said, they don't seem to use percentages anymore. There was a couple of hundred in the difference. I finished up going with the cheapest one as a friend of mine has also heard that she is very efficient as well as cheaper and she has been very helpful on the phone so that is a good start.

You won't get a Solicitor to do your conveyancing for 1k or less.

What you will get, whether you know it or not, is a secretary in a Solicitor's office who will be doing your conveyancing for that price.

joejoem

Deleted User wrote:

You won't get a Solicitor to do your conveyancing for 1k or less.

What you will get, whether you know it or not, is a secretary in a Solicitor's office who will be doing your conveyancing for that price.

Thats bull, I dealt with the solicitor directly.

joejoem

joejoem wrote:

Thats bull, I dealt with the solicitor directly.

Good. I am happy for you.

I am a Solicitor. And it simply doesn't pay me, or Solicitors I know, to do a Conveyance for €800 or €900. You are looking at hours of work after all. And if you think some 'top' Dublin Solicitor will work for €50 or €100 an hour, you are not on this planet at all.

But someone like an apprentice or a secretary will do it...

Scruff

Deleted User wrote:

Good. I am happy for you.

I am a Solicitor. And it simply doesn't pay me, or Solicitors I know, to do a Conveyance for €800 or €900. You are looking at hours of work after all. And if you think some 'top' Dublin Solicitor will work for €50 or €100 an hour, you are not on this planet at all.

But someone like an apprentice or a secretary will do it...

how many hours of work is it typically so?

Scruff

Scruff wrote:

how many hours of work is it typically so?

There is no 'typical' really as examining contracts and title can range from something that takes a couple of hours to get through to something that takes days to read. I don't know the 'top Solicitor' who will read the title, read Contracts, raise pre-Contract enquiries, deal with replies, exchange contracts, raise requisitions and draft the Deed, draw down finance, travel to another office to close the deal and attend to the stamping and registration for €690. I know plenty that will get their Secretaries or Apprentice to do it and just ask them questions before the client comes in.

Perhaps anyone here should ask a Solicitor who is NOT tied to a finance house or homelaw to confirm what I say.

dublin81

i'm intrigued, how then do you know that a solicitor is actually doing the job when you pay over the 1k? i'm currently in the process of bidding for a property in dublin and will need a reliable solicitor. i've been stung before so i'm very wary.

JuliusCaesar

Deleted User wrote: »

But someone like an apprentice or a secretary will do it...

But the solicitor will sign it off and have to stand over it! So it doesn't matter who in the office does the actual work, as the solicitor will have responsibility for it.

Jo King

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

But the solicitor will sign it off and have to stand over it! So it doesn't matter who in the office does the actual work, as the solicitor will have responsibility for it.

First off there is a six year limitation period. If you find 7 years down the road that there was a problem with the conveyance its tough. The original solicitor can wash his hands of it.
Even if you find a problem within the six years it is going to be a costly and troublesome business to do anything about it. You may have to find a solicitor to sue the one who did the conveyance. It will be a long drawn out and expensive process and meantime the property cannot be sold or re-mortgaged or otherwise dealt with.
It amazes me that people who would not dream of buying their sitting room curtains or carpet from anything other than a top retail outlet, paying hundreds or euro more than they would pay for the same goods elsewhere, will take all kinds of chances with the conveyance to save a few hundred euro.
I know a solicitor who charges €1500 minimum and I have no hesitation inrecommending him to anyone because I know that he is meticulous and there will be not trouble down the line.

Amazotheamazing

Thread sort of related to the OP's issue over here in the legal discussion section of boards.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055401101

post 12 in particular.