[SteveChester]

Hi looking to buy a new house shortly - apart from stamp duty what do I need to budget for legal fees etc wise?

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

Hi looking to buy a new house shortly - apart from stamp duty what do I need to budget for legal fees etc wise?

I'd personally set aside at least 10K for the legal fees, selling fees, moving costs, any minor renovations on the new place and then on top of that consider stamp duty.

[DougMcL]

Here's my breakdown. Just about to move.
Removal 2.5k. This includes a 6 week storage period. Moving ten miles with full pack for 2000 cubic foot house is about £1300
Stamp duty 15k on 500k house
Estate agent selling fees on 350k house 4k
Solicitor fees for buy sell 3k special deal for me as he's a mate.

About 25k all in moving from 350k house to 500k house.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

Here's my breakdown. Just about to move.
Removal 2.5k. This includes a 6 week storage period. Moving ten miles with full pack for 2000 cubic foot house is about £1300
Stamp duty 15k on 500k house
Estate agent selling fees on 350k house 4k
Solicitor fees for buy sell 3k special deal for me as he's a mate.

About 25k all in moving from 350k house to 500k house.

Or stamp duty plus £10k which isn’t a bad rule of thumb...

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

Here's my breakdown. Just about to move.
Removal 2.5k. This includes a 6 week storage period. Moving ten miles with full pack for 2000 cubic foot house is about £1300
Stamp duty 15k on 500k house
Estate agent selling fees on 350k house 4k
Solicitor fees for buy sell 3k special deal for me as he's a mate.

About 25k all in moving from 350k house to 500k house.

Good point, I forgot about estate agent commission, in that case I'd revise my estimate and say 15K plus stamp duty

[nordberg]

If you’re selling, use Purple Bricks or another fixed fee agancy. Save yourself thousands potentially..

[JD6]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

Solicitor fees for buy sell 3k special deal for me as he's a mate.

I'm not sure he's as much of a mate as you think - £3k sounds pretty high unless the buy side is particularly complex. The sell side tends to be pretty straightforward.

[DougMcL]

Originally Posted by JD6

I'm not sure he's as much of a mate as you think - £3k sounds pretty high unless the buy side is particularly complex. The sell side tends to be pretty straightforward.

Yup. Get that. But we all have to make a living. The standard rates were discounted ;-) that's enough for me. It's a bit less than that. I think the discount was around 25%

[robbiep]

If you want a really good conveyancing solicitor, drop me a message. The man is terrifyingly efficient. Based in Wrexham.

Members of my family own a housebuilding firm - up to 100 houses a year. He is the only solicitor they will use.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by nordberg

If you’re selling, use Purple Bricks or another fixed fee agancy. Save yourself thousands potentially..

Or find a high street agent who will do fixed fee, and offer no sale no fee which I don’t think purple bricks will...

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by nordberg

If you’re selling, use Purple Bricks or another fixed fee agancy. Save yourself thousands potentially..

Personally I think that's questionable. In my experience (when getting our house valued) they use junior staff who don't know the market, resulting in significant undervaluation.

There's no point saving £5K on fees if you lose £50K on the price of the house you are selling.

I would use a top-end traditional agent who will work to a reduced/fixed commission.

[Savageenterprise]

Man that is such a subjective question with so many variables. Does the house need work that you want to do immediately or is an absolute must before moving in? Or any major repairs for example like a, boiler, water heater, central air, gas conversion, roof etc.

Closing costs (including leagal fees) for me were about 4% of home value. I would also recommend spending $500 bucks for a good engineer to come to the house and give it a good look over. He/she will inspect everything from foundation cracks, illegal wiring, check for any safety hazards and much more. Best money I spent when I purchased my home, it gave me some piece of mind.

Repair/update wise my house needed new everything since i purchased from a very old couple who were original owners of the home. I spent 50k+ and I’m a DIY guy. I did all the work myself so that was just materials. So if you’re not handy, triple whatever material cost is and that can be a good rough guideline for labor+material costs from a company doing the work.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, it’s really a subjective thing depending on your needs/wants. Good luck with the purchase!

[Grant_7]

Originally Posted by Daftasabrush

Good point, I forgot about estate agent commission, in that case I'd revise my estimate and say 15K plus stamp duty

Having just moved <10 weeks ago, I'd agree with this.

Stamp + £10-15k is about right.

[JustChris]

Selling as well Steve, obvs some costs there too.

[SteveChester]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Selling as well Steve, obvs some costs there too.

I sold ages ago so all taken care off - I'm just interested in costs of buying.

I'm going with stamp + 15k.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

I sold ages ago so all taken care off - I'm just interested in costs of buying.

I'm going with stamp + 15k.

It won’t be that much if just buying. Think mine was about £5k plus stamp for just buying.

Stamp was extortionate though as I hadn’t sold so new house was addition