photocopy $300?
how many pages? 3000 pages?
ask the lawyer

1) land search is basically a detail report reflecting the current status of the land. if at all there are any anomalies (ie. caveats) on the land then you would be aware and simply blindly pay the seller or proceed with the sale and only to find out later in the stage that you are stuck. vital and necessary but does not guarantee a safe passage. the first land search is conducted prior to the drafting of the sale and purchase agreement and the second land search is conducted either during your entry of private caveat of presentation of the Memorandum of Transfer.

2) professional fees are mainly the charges that you paid to your lawyer for the professional advises and services and disbursements are charges where they are paying to all the relevant authorities on your behalf. for instance, the land search reports. your lawyer don't charge you for that and they only charge you the fees that the land office charges, RM30.00.

I agree that the "photocopying" charges are very expensive, RM300.00 for that? They better be using very good quality papers and for the filing of CKHT forms, RM200.00 is the charges allowable under the SRO but you can choose to not have your lawyers file for you on your behalf then you save RM212.00. At the end of the day, it's money vs convenience. Entirely up to you.

By the way, i've told many people about this time after time and they don't seem to get it. They always think that lawyers "overcharged" them all the time simply because people generally think that they can do what lawyers does therefore lawyers are not allowed to charge them "professional fees". I'm not even exaggerating because we don't see people bargaining with doctors, this is because they know they can't do their job.

It's a free market, if you think your lawyers charge you expensive then feel free to appoint another but never bargain. Just like a normal business, law firms' MO is to generate profit, they are not charitable bodies that does free works to the public. You have the legal aid centre for that.

You get what you paid for.

If you pay peanuts, you'll get monkeys to work for you.

Dear sifu's,

I'm also a first time house buyer, basically my unit is master title and leasehold. is my legal fees ok for RM510k? Just to double check.