Selling house to sister

craicfox

My folks are selling the family house to my sister and I was wondering what the going rate for a solicitor is these days.
Is it reasonable to expect a reduced rate as its a fairly straight forward in family sale?
Do solicitors do set rates these days?
Is it ok to ask for a price up front?
Does anyone know of someone in the Limerick area who they delt with and who charged a resonable price?

killers1

craicfox wrote: »

My folks are selling the family house to my sister and I was wondering what the going rate for a solicitor is these days.
Is it reasonable to expect a reduced rate as its a fairly straight forward in family sale?
Do solicitors do set rates these days?
Is it ok to ask for a price up front?
Does anyone know of someone in the Limerick area who they delt with and who charged a resonable price?

Ring around a few solicitors, tell them what the transaction involves and ask them each to email you a detailed quote. You can then compare accurately between them. Only use a solicitor that has been recommended to you by someone who has used them before...

ProudDUB

Most solicitors charge a percentage of the sale price of the house as their fee. 1%-1.25% would have been standard before the current economic crash. With so few people buying these days, I can see many of them being open to negotiating a lower rate or doing it for a flat fee.

There are some things that they will still have to do regardless of who is buying or selling the house. As the sale is being kept within the family, that could lighten the solicitors work load. That would be a good bargaining tool for you/her to negotiate a good rate with them.

Yes, they are the ones to set the rates. If you don't like their quoted rate, you are free to go else where.

Yes, it is normal and advisable to ask for a price upfront & to ask what is an is not included in their fee. For example, a house can not be sold these days without a BER certificate. The solicitor may arrange to get the certification done, but it is up to the seller to pay for it. That would not be included in the solicitors normal schedule of fees.

Senna

ProudDUB wrote: »

Most solicitors charge a percentage of the sale price of the house as their fee. 1%-1.25% would have been standard before the current economic crash.

It must have been a while since you bought a house, it hasn't been based on % since the 90's at least and if it has then you got robbed (unless the house was under 100k). Most solicitors now charge for the set fees (needed regardless of who does the conveyance) + costs + vat. You will get a breakdown, if you ask;

Title Search fees
Land Registry Fees
etc
etc, cant remember what others

If i remember correctly these costs were around 1k and the total price i paid was €1600 for a 200k house.

Ring around and you will probably get prices straight away.

Marcusm

You might find it difficult to find oe solicitor - they may insist that bth parties obtain independent advice ad/or that all other family members (siblings) formally acknowledge the transaction and confirm that they don't object to it.

3DataModem

You will need two solicitors, and it is not a lighter workload. The purchasing solicitor will do well to be careful to ensure no claims on the title, especially for in-family sales, and even more especially if the price differs from the market price.

craicfox

Well the estate agent from the bank came today to value the house, so she will be buying it at current market price.
I'm the only other sibling so there's no issue of me contesting the sale

Liam D Ferguson

The solicitor needs to do virtually the same amount of work regardless of whether the people selling and buying are related or not, especially if your sister is getting a mortgage. All the same searches, registrations etc., still have to be carried out. The fact that it's an inter-family sale just means that the same surname will be on some of the documents.

I've dealt with Rachel Stokes of Connolly Sellors Geraghty in the past and found her to be on the ball.

craicfox

Nice one Liam I'll give her a bell on Monday and get a quote