Yesterday the purchase of Spencer House was completed. Much of the process was invisible to us and was managed by our capable solicitor. His fee of £900 seems cheap at the price. We did have to arrange the financial transfer, but even that was a seamless affair dealt with as a virtual transaction at our local bank branch.
In My Day
When we moved from Rowan Avenue to Montfort Close things were very different. The amount that we could borrow was uncomfortably close to the amount we would make on Rowan Avenue. And there was a mortgage to pay off.
If you added lawyer's fees it all seemed too steep. From somewhere I'd got hold of a book called "The Conveyancing Fraud" The premise of the book was that a huge con was being perpetrated by the British legal system which was that buying and selling a house was a matter for experts and could only be carried out with much obfuscation and the payment of huge fees. The book explained that most houses in England were registered with the Land Registry and poo-pooed the concept of old-fashioned "deeds", especially for new estate-built houses. Finally the book gave a step-by-step guide on how to do it, including telling you what forms you needed.
Simples! I could do all this myself and save a shedload of cash! I buckled down to the task. Naively I was unprepared for the hostility displayed by the solicitors involved.
The vendors' lawyers posed a few sharply written questions (including a trick one), all of which I answered correctly and they stepped down. The estate agent was all affability when I asked them if they would hold the contract deposit for us and the building society's lawyer was cool but OK. Rowan Avenue was subject to a mortgage from the Local Council and the legal department was only too happy to help me.
But the purchasers' solicitors were uncivil, to say the least. When I commented that I couldn't read the writing on their amendments to the contract (I always typed our amendments) I received a letter taking deep offence at the suggestion of illegibility "If you had had your matters attended to professionally the issue would not arise" said the unsigned and undated letter.
And we did it! I insisted on a face-to-face completion on the Rowan Avenue sale, partly to embarrass the rude solicitors. The head of the firm was there and actually apologised in front of the council lawyer who congratulated me on a job well done.
The actual transaction was rather a cliff-hanger as we had to go to the bank to collect the banker's draft for Rowan Avenue, run to our building society's lawyers with the draft and our sums. We were then given another draft with which we ran back to our bank to pay in to make 10 Montfort Close ours. Fortunately, the house at Montfort Close was already empty, but the buyers of 33 Rowan Avenue were right on our tails as we moved ourselves out.
Was it worth it? Well, we saved enough to buy a washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher and new three-piece suite. And I have always felt pleased that I actually proved the book right!
These days, solicitors are more cagey about charging exorbitant fees and the fact that I've done it myself does ensure that I know what questions to ask and what really matters.
