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Solicitors Fees in 2020

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Comments

  • #32
    DublinCJM
    Registered Users Posts: 826 ✭✭✭DublinCJM


    Mine was 2,000 for selling and 2,500 for buying (ex VAT and outlays). They were really good, prompt, responsive, proactive with updates and lovely to deal with.

    Heard some horror stories about not being able to contact solicitors, no calls returned, no progress updates etc.

    So, was happy to pay maybe a little extra knowing that I was being kept up to date, and that I could get hold of them if I needed to.


  • #33
    Paddigol
    Registered Users Posts: 1,410 ✭✭✭Paddigol


    chops018 wrote: »
    Sorry, but I have to jump in here. Full disclosure, I'm a Solicitor who deals primarily with property.

    ...

    Excellent post. I did a bit of conveyancing in my time and not a hope in hell would I go back to it. Almost zero appreciation for your work from clients. While almost always completely ignorant of what is involved, their sole focus will be on race to the bottom price wise. I just can't understand how firms can charge 3/4 hours rate, provide a proper service, and make any money. Nearly every other professional in the process make more money with less risk - surveyors, estate agents, banks, insurers.

    The liability taken on by solicitors for even the most basic conveyance, plus the weighting it puts on your professional indemnity insurance premium... just not worth it.


  • #34
    KilOit
    Registered Users Posts: 2,983 ✭✭✭KilOit


    Mortgage switch all in €1100


  • #35
    Samuel T. Cogley
    Registered Users Posts: 10,684 ✭✭✭✭Samuel T. Cogley


    KilOit wrote: »
    Mortgage switch all in €1100

    With a mortgage switch I'd defer to the cheapness argument.


  • #36
    CarMc
    Registered Users Posts: 74 ✭✭CarMc


    chops018 wrote: »


    - Contracts.
    - Replies to Reqs.
    - Folio: ensure registered owner is the vendor, ensure no burdens registered that would adversely affect the purchaser's ownership, if so seek the instrument for same and any other instruments appearing on the folio. Check the map and make sure nothing glaringly obvious there and ensure boundaries look correct and access is ok. Advise client to get their own surveyor to ensure boundaries are ok on the ground and that they are happy.
    - Do a pre-contract planning search. Anything that shows up that affects the property that is not with the title given by the vendor's solicitor needs to be provided along with certificates of compliance with planning and building regs.
    - Check the planning with the title docs. Ensure there's certs of compliance with same. Ensure there are letters of compliance from the council for certain conditions such as financial contributions.
    - Declaration of Identity to ensure all the services servicing the property are within the boundaries of the folio being bought, if not get appropriate easements put in place so they can be maintained. Also get clients surveyors input here as they are invaluable as to what is on the ground.
    - Ensure letter re roads and services abutting the property from the council confirming same are in charge of the council.
    - Ensure taxes up to date: LPT, NPPR.
    - Ensure BER and advisory report given.
    - Appropriate declarations on closing: s. 72, Family Home declaration, declaration re Planning and no other developments carried out other than disclosed, declaration re any burdens on the title confirming don't adversely affect.
    - Draft purchase deed for closing.
    - Deal with purchaser's lender and drawdown if borrowing, qualifying title if required.
    - Stamping the deed.
    - Registering the deed.

    €800 - 900 fees are 3-4 hours professional time and work. No way all of the above fits in that time. If it does you're not looking at everything properly in my opinion.

    But it's never 800-900, it's Fee plus Outlays and all of the items in your list above are in the outlays, I was charged for each item and each document separately in the outlays. This was all clearly quoted beforehand but there were some extras as the buyers solicitor requested additional closing declarations. But they were added to the final bill. I'm not knocking what they are paid and I know I paid 1250 plus outlays for both sale and purchase but just saying no one is getting away with a 800-900 bill for a conveyancing solicitor.


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  • #37
    housemurf99
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭housemurf99


    New build in Maynooth. A & B solictors in neighbouring town. C in Maynooth. Land Registry charges on top of quotes.

    A €1500+ vat+outlays
    B €1200+ vat +outlays
    C €1000+vat +outlays


  • #38
    stampydmonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭stampydmonkey


    €1500 fees and approx €1200 for land reg and other bits for a purchase. Approx €2700 ex vat. At the start of the process so no idea if they are good or not. Came highly recommended so we'll see


  • #39
    chops018
    Registered Users Posts: 2,458 ✭✭✭chops018


    CarMc wrote: »
    But it's never 800-900, it's Fee plus Outlays and all of the items in your list above are in the outlays, I was charged for each item and each document separately in the outlays. This was all clearly quoted beforehand but there were some extras as the buyers solicitor requested additional closing declarations. But they were added to the final bill. I'm not knocking what they are paid and I know I paid 1250 plus outlays for both sale and purchase but just saying no one is getting away with a 800-900 bill for a conveyancing solicitor.

    I was talking about professional fees being €800-900. Which is what the Solicitor/Firm actually makes from the work put in. I know there are some firms that do conveyances for this kind of professional fee. It is simply too low for the work involved in my opinion, if it is done right. Anyone can take a quick look at the contract, folio/map, not raise any queries, get you in to sign and pay the closing monies and then pay stamp duty and register the deed. However, a proper review of everything and raising proper queries will take much more than €800-900 worth.

    Nothing can be done about outlay, they will be the same everywhere, or at least should be. So obviously professional fees, VAT, stamp duty, land registry fees and other outlay will see the bill go up to nearly €5,000 for most standard purchases.


  • #40
    lawred2
    Registered Users Posts: 24,257 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    pooch90 wrote: »
    That 1% is most likely the reference to Stamp Duty which you normally pay through your solicitor.
    From what I've seen most pay 4500-7000 for solicitors. Some people get their wills done at the same time.

    4500 - 7000 for conveyancing?

    That's absurd


  • #41
    chops018
    Registered Users Posts: 2,458 ✭✭✭chops018


    lawred2 wrote: »
    4500 - 7000 for conveyancing?

    That's absurd

    If he meant all in then it's not.

    For example let's take a purchase of €300,000.00

    Professional Fee: €1,500.
    Post, stationary etc.: €25.
    VAT at 21%: €320.25.
    PRAI Registration of Transfer: €700.
    PRAI Registration of Mortgage: €130.
    PRAI Folio & File Plan: €40.
    Searches (estimate): €250.
    Commissioners Fees: €12.
    SDMT Bank Charge: €25.
    Stamp Duty at 1%: €3,000.

    Total = €6,002.25.

    That's all just off the top of my head. Could be one or two things for outlay that I missed!

    Easily builds up. The stamp duty usually being the highest.


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  • #42
    brisan
    Registered Users Posts: 2,242 ✭✭✭brisan


    chops018 wrote: »
    If he meant all in then it's not.

    For example let's take a purchase of €300,000.00

    Professional Fee: €1,500.
    Post, stationary etc.: €25.
    VAT at 21%: €320.25.
    PRAI Registration of Transfer: €700.
    PRAI Registration of Mortgage: €130.
    PRAI Folio & File Plan: €40.
    Searches (estimate): €250.
    Commissioners Fees: €12.
    SDMT Bank Charge: €25.
    Stamp Duty at 1%: €3,000.

    Total = €6,002.25.

    That's all just off the top of my head. Could be one or two things for outlay that I missed!

    Easily builds up. The stamp duty usually being the highest.

    Not sure stamp duty can be considered solicitors fees
    He just collects it and passes it on


  • #43
    chops018
    Registered Users Posts: 2,458 ✭✭✭chops018


    brisan wrote: »
    Not sure stamp duty can be considered solicitors fees
    He just collects it and passes it on

    Yes, agreed. I think that's where people get mixed up. They hear "€6,000" solicitors fees for a house purchase. When in reality the Solicitors professional fees which they/the firm get from the work are more likely €1,000-1,500.

    Anything else is outlay payable to third parties or the revenue (stamp duty).


  • #44
    Corruptedmorals
    Registered Users Posts: 4,194 ✭✭✭Corruptedmorals


    A good solicitor is worth the extra. Our sale was horrific. It took 8 months. Every step of the way our solicitor was pressuring the other side for updates even without being prompted, had endless amounts of non-standard sale things to deal with such as boundary issues, map issues, title issues, bank's legal team. He pulled the sale over the line and was always very prompt with his responses and updates. In the end he didn't even charge for all of the extra time that went into the sale. I couldn't imagine going with the cheapest one without any recommendation. We had no reason to expect that our sale would be anything other than bog standard.


  • #45
    Dolbhad
    Registered Users Posts: 782 ✭✭✭Dolbhad


    Corruptedmorals wrote: »
    A good solicitor is worth the extra. Our sale was horrific. It took 8 months. Every step of the way our solicitor was pressuring the other side for updates even without being prompted, had endless amounts of non-standard sale things to deal with such as boundary issues, map issues, title issues, bank's legal team. He pulled the sale over the line and was always very prompt with his responses and updates. In the end he didn't even charge for all of the extra time that went into the sale. I couldn't imagine going with the cheapest one without any recommendation. We had no reason to expect that our sale would be anything other than bog standard.

    Our solicitor has been like that and a god send to us. I really feel we wouldn’t have secured the house we have and gotten it over the line if we had used someone else. And like that extra work was involved and still at the fee quoted.

    I’ve always said you don’t necessarily have to go with the most expensive but I wouldn’t go with the cheapest. Anything less than €1200 if your on a major area like Cork or Dublin I would expect the solicitor to work off volume rather than time.


  • #46
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,523 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    950 inc VAT all in, including outlays for a mortgage switch; albeit with the solicitor who handled the original purchase and hence has quite a lot of the required stuff already to hand.

    This would be considered a 'cheap' solicitor locally however they handled my original purchase absolutely fine including physically dropping off some docs that would probably have been DXed otherwise to ensure the sale closed on the right day.


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