solicitors charges when selling a property.

Hi, can anyone give me some advice on this

I was talking to friends today who have sold their villa

for 200,000 euros and their solicitor has charged them

3% (6,000 euros) for acting for them in the sale.

surely this amount is excessive, does anyone know

if there are any set rules for solicitor charges.

The reason I ask is because I have a property for sale

and would like some idea of how much or percentage I will

need to pay when my property is sold

 solicitors we use charge between 600€ and 1,000€ plus iva.

This is pretty much the norm.

hi johnzx

it did seem very high to me

the couple concerned are non residents

so mabye they have confused the 3% retention

with their solicitors fees.

I will ask my friends to check this out

thanks.

Our solicitor charged 1% for selling our property and we were not in Spain at the signing of the compraventa, when our estate agent triedto pull  a fast one, giving us a dodgy English translation of the Spanish compraventa, which would have tied us up in knots.  So, we were very glad to have the Spanish lawyer working for us as she pointed out over the 'phone what was written in the Spanish version (the only version that counts in law).  If the amount they paid was 3%, then that doesn't make any sense if it is the retention plus the fees.  Maybe the lawyer intends to charge their fees afterwards, depending on what it means to have 'sold' the villa.  Some people say they have sold a house, when the sale hasn't actually gone through, but they've just had an offer...  We were quoted 1% by our lawyer before the sale was agreed, so we knew beforehand what we would be paying.

When I bought my house this summer, I paid my solicitor 1% as a purchaser, and I know the vendor paid his solicitor 1% as a seller.  In my case this was rounded upwards to 1,000 euros which was their minimum fee.  Not sure about the vendor's fee to his.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to engage a lawyer in Spain for your house sale or purchase.  Would you buy a house in the Uk without one?  I certainly wouldn't!  I'm only buying and the lawyer I'm using based in Malaga charges 0.9% of the purchase price with a minimum fee.  This also includes helping you to set up a bank account of your choice in Spain and obtaining your NIE  numbers.  He will also have power of attorney so that we don't have to keep going back and forth to sign things.  I think this represents excellent value for money as some companies will charge in excess of £200.00 to obtain an NIE number for you.  If you have someone who can push you in the right direction you can do it yourself for a few Euro's but as the lawyer does this anyway I won't need to struggle with it!

I know in selling a house the Estate Agents fee is fairly hefty but I don't know the general charges for the lawyers part but some have commented on here that its not 3%.  One day I may need to find out but at the moment its not my worry.  I hope it all goes ok for you and that it doesn't cost you too much! 

Fazerness,

                              please see my private message.  Not posted here as most will already be aware of what I have said.