Almost every caller who asks about conveyancing fees in Surrey asks the same thing in the same way: "what is this going to cost me?" It is a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a range that expands after the fact. Below is our published pricing, what it covers, what sits outside it, and the costs that are not ours to set at all.
Our conveyancing fees in BC
These are our legal fees for the work, quoted as from the figure shown plus tax. They do not include third party charges such as Land Title Office fees, property transfer tax, or the other side's adjustments, which are dealt with further down.
Residential purchase and sale
Home sale, no mortgage on title: from $799 plus tax
Home sale with a mortgage to discharge: from $950 plus tax
Home purchase, no new mortgage: from $1,200 plus tax
Home purchase with a new mortgage: from $1,300 plus tax
Refinance and transfers
Refinance: from $1,199 plus tax
Family transfer: from $799 plus tax
Sale and purchase together
Sale plus purchase, no mortgages: from $1,900 plus tax
Sale plus purchase with mortgages: from $2,125 plus tax
The combined fee is the one most Surrey clients end up on, because most people selling in this market are buying somewhere else in the same week. It is lower than the two files priced separately because a good part of the work, the identity verification, the client file opening, and the reporting, is done once rather than twice.
Why the purchase costs more than the sale
A sale is a narrower job. We confirm the title is clear, prepare the transfer, obtain the payout statement from your lender, discharge the existing charge, and account to you for the proceeds. The file is mostly about making sure nothing unexpected is registered against the property and that the money lands where it should.
A purchase carries more exposure. On a purchase we are certifying title to your lender, which means the lender relies on our work. We review the contract of purchase and sale before your subjects are removed and flag the terms that will cost you money later, review the strata documents where the property is a strata lot, order and read the title search, deal with any easements, covenants, rights of way or statutory building schemes, confirm zoning and the permitted use, handle the property transfer tax return and any first time buyer exemption, coordinate with your lender and the other side, and report to you and to the lender at the end. If a title defect appears, it appears on a purchase, and it becomes our problem to solve before completion.
That difference in scope, not a difference in appetite, is why a purchase sits at a higher fee than a sale.
What the government and the registry charge
These amounts are collected by us and paid out, and they show on your statement of adjustments. None of it is legal fees, and no lawyer can discount them.
Property transfer tax. Payable by the buyer on closing, calculated on the purchase price. First time buyers may qualify for an exemption on a principal residence below the threshold, and there are separate rules for newly built homes. We calculate this on every file and tell you the number before completion, not after.
Land Title Office fees. Charged per application to register the transfer and the mortgage, and to file a discharge on a sale. The amounts are set by the Land Title and Survey Authority and they change from time to time, so we confirm the current figure on your file rather than quoting a stale one.
Strata form fees. Where you are buying or selling a strata lot, the strata corporation charges for the Form B information certificate, the Form F certificate of payment, and any related documents. These are passed through at cost.
Title insurance. Optional but usually sensible on a purchase where a lender is involved. The premium depends on the purchase price and the coverage, and we tell you what it is before you commit.
What can push a file above the quoted figure
In our experience most residential files complete at or near the quoted fee. The ones that move above it usually involve one of the following, and we will tell you as soon as we see it rather than at the end.
Title problems. An old mortgage that was never discharged, a deceased joint tenant still on title, a builder who registered a statutory building scheme incorrectly, a missing right of way. Each of those takes work to fix, and none of it is the lawyer's fault or the client's.
An unrepresented party. If the other side is not using a lawyer or notary, the extra verification and communication falls to us. Some firms charge a premium for this. We charge for the actual work.
Corporate or trust ownership. Where the seller is a company or a trustee, or where the buyer is purchasing through a corporation, there is additional due diligence, additional signing authority to confirm, and often a resolution or trust document to review.
Rushed completions. A file that comes in a week before completion, with a lender who has not yet sent instructions, means overtime and priority handling. We will tell you if that is realistic. We will also tell you if it is not.
Private mortgages and vendor financing. A private lender or a vendor take back mortgage involves terms the lender drafts, and someone has to read them properly.
Refinancing: what from $1,199 plus tax covers
A refinance is not just a mortgage registration. We review the lender's instructions, confirm the existing charge on title and its payout figure, prepare and register the new mortgage, deal with any prior encumbrance that has to be discharged or postponed, attend to the Land Title Office, and report to you and to your lender. Where the refinance is on a rental property or a second property, say so at the start, because the lender's requirements differ.
One practical point we raise with every refinance client in Surrey: if the purpose of the refinance is to pay out a spouse or a family member, or to settle a separation, that is a different matter with different paperwork, and it needs to be coordinated rather than bolted on afterwards.
Family transfers at from $799 plus tax
A transfer between family members sounds simple and often is not. A transfer to a spouse, a parent, or a child can trigger property transfer tax unless a specific exemption applies, can affect how the property is held, can create a future family law issue, and can produce a capital gains consequence that nobody thought about until years later. We review the transaction and the exemption position before anything is registered, which is the entire point of doing it with a lawyer rather than at a registry counter.
Why a notary can be cheaper, and when that is the right call
A notary is often less expensive on a straightforward purchase or sale, and for a plain residential transfer with no complications that can be a perfectly reasonable choice. Where the file involves a title defect, a corporate or trust party, a family transfer with a tax exemption question, an unrepresented counterparty, or anything contested, a lawyer is the right call, and those are the files where the difference in cost is smallest relative to the difference in what you get.
We have written about that comparison separately: Real Estate Lawyers vs Notaries in BC.
How the fee is paid, and when
On a purchase, our fee is paid from the funds advanced for closing, so it appears on your statement of adjustments rather than as a separate bill. On a sale, it is deducted from the proceeds. On a refinance, it is usually taken from the advance. You do not need to write a cheque on the day, and you will see the number in writing before completion.
Where a file is unusual, we quote a range before we start rather than an open meter. If the work looks like it will exceed the range, we tell you why and get instructions before we continue.
Questions worth asking any BC real estate lawyer
When you are comparing quotes, the fee itself is only half the comparison. Ask whether the quote includes the mortgage registration and the discharge, or whether those are separate. Ask what happens if the completion date changes. Ask whether the fee covers the reporting to your lender, which some quotes exclude. Then compare the answers rather than the headline number.
Our pricing is on our practice page, and it has been the same since we set it: Real Estate Law. If you want to go deeper into the discharge and payout mechanics on a sale, that is set out in Selling Your Home in Surrey BC: What Your Real Estate Lawyer Does Step by Step. On the tax side, Understanding the Property Transfer Tax in British Columbia covers the exemptions properly. And if you are weighing whether your file needs a lawyer at all, How to Choose a Real Estate Lawyer in Surrey sets out what to look for.
If you are buying, selling, or refinancing in Surrey
Guildford, Whalley, Newton, South Surrey, Cloverdale, and across the Lower Mainland. Most of our clients come to us through a realtor, a mortgage broker, or a friend who used us before. If you have a completion date coming, send us the contract of purchase and sale as early as you can, and we will confirm the fee in writing the same day.
If you are still working out whether you are buying or selling first, or refinancing to fund the next step, a short conversation before you sign anything is usually worth more than a quote.