Purchasing small plot without auctioneer/solicitor?

Sparrow_Hawk

Hi


I am not looking for legal advice on the following issue, i would just like to know about other peoples experiences.

I plan to buy a small piece of land – 7ish acres - throughprivate sale. It is part of the estateof a deceased neighbour. His land is infour different locations. At eachlocation a neighbour (living adjacent to each retrospective plot) has beenrenting the land for many years, in relation to three plots, for about fifteenyears before the neighbour passed away. Hissister, who now lives in another part of the country, is selling the land. With each of the four plots, she has said shewill sell, in each instance, to the neighbour who has been renting, obviously ifprice is right for both parties that is! This is in a rural community, and we all know each other’s families, soits reasonably informal. She has beenworking on getting the titles sorted with a few years, having had to go back afew generations to get it sorted and using the services of an incredibly lethargicsolicitor.

Anyhow, my question: Is it possible to complete the sale/transfertitles without using a solicitor? Hasanyone on here made a purchase without the solicitor?

Also, I understand the seller will get an auctioneer to valuethe land, so ide imagine they (as opposed to the buyer) will pay for thisevaluation. Since this will be a privatesale and is only a small plot, I don’t see the outward need for an auctioneerto complete the sale. Obviously onewould need to calculate and pay stamp duty, and what ever other fees are involved,is it ok for a layman to do this?

Has anyone on here bought/sold doing the transaction themselves?

delaval

You do not need an auctioneer but your own solicitor is a must if only to check that title is correct as is my experiance

moy83

If it has taken her a few years to sort out titles then you would definitely want a solicitor to make sure everything is right . You will probably not need an auctioneer alright

maidhc

Buying land is an incredibly complex process. It may be simple, but that is more the exception than the rule.

I am a solicitor (for the record), and started learning about property law about 12 years ago. I still come across something new almost every day.

For something worth maybe €70k, it would be extreme foolishness not to pay the solicitor the €1000 or so s/he will charge. Particualrly considering you will need to pay €1400 (2% of 70k) on stamp duty and about €600 on registration fees to the Land Reg anyway.

Bernice101

I would agree with posters 2 & 3, solicitor definitely required. Auctioneer to be avoided if possible!