How Can You Tell If Your Lawyer's Property Quotation Is Overcharging You?

You have two lawyers' quotations for the same house, and one is a few thousand ringgit cheaper. Does that mean the higher one is overcharging you?

Not necessarily. The gap may come from a wrongly calculated professional fee, but it can just as easily come from a different scope of work, loan documentation, disbursements, consent, redemption, searches or extra work that appears in only one of the quotations.

The safer approach is to take each quotation apart line by line before you draw any conclusion.

Short answer: for conveyancing work in Peninsular Malaysia, check the professional fee against the Solicitors' Remuneration Order 2023 (SRO 2023), then separate out stamp duty, disbursements, tax and additional work. A higher total is not automatically an overcharge. What matters is whether the fee category, the basis of calculation and the scope are correct and explained.

Step one: separate the professional fee from everything else

A home purchase quotation usually contains several layers that should not be mixed together:

• the lawyer's professional fee for the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) and transfer;

• the professional fee for the financing documents, if you are buying with a bank loan or other financing;

• stamp duty and official charges, which depend on the instruments and the transaction;

• disbursements such as searches, registration, document delivery or reasonable third-party payments; and

• additional work that may fall outside the basic scale, depending on how the transaction is structured.

If you compare only the bottom-line figure on two quotations, you may really be comparing two different scopes of work.

What is the SRO 2023 scale for a sale and transfer?

For transactions under Table A of the First Schedule to SRO 2023, the scale is:

A simple example: if the value used for the calculation is RM500,000, the scale fee before any permitted discount is RM6,250. If the value is RM1,000,000, the basic calculation is RM6,250 on the first RM500,000 and RM5,000 on the next RM500,000, making RM11,250 before any permitted discount and other components.

Do not apply this example automatically to every transaction. SRO 2023 has different schedules and categories, including specific categories for sales under housing development legislation and for work that is not an ordinary sale and transfer. SST at 8% is charged on top of professional fees. For more detail on the fee side, see our guide to legal fees for buying and selling a house in Malaysia.

Loan documentation has its own calculation

If the purchase is financed, the quotation may include a separate professional fee for the financing documents.

Under Table A of the Third Schedule, SRO 2023 applies the same scale to the amount secured or financed: 1.25% on the first RM500,000, 1% on the next RM7 million, and a negotiated rate on the excess over RM7.5 million, subject to the limit stated in the Order.

So a quotation that includes both the SPA fee and the loan documentation fee cannot be compared with one that covers only the SPA. Ask directly:

• Is this firm handling the SPA only?

• Is it also handling the financing documents?

• Is the firm on the panel of the buyer's bank?

• If not, will the bank's lawyer send a separate quotation?

Our guide to housing loan and loan agreement legal fees explains the loan side in more detail.

When should a difference between quotations raise questions?

1. The professional fee is above the scale with no explanation

If an item that should follow the SRO scale looks higher than the permitted basis, ask for the calculation and the schedule category used.

Do not jump to accusations. The value used (for example, the adjudicated value) may differ from the price you assumed, or there may be additional work listed separately. But the firm should be able to explain how it arrived at the figure.

2. The same item is charged twice under different names

For example, you may see two lines that both look like professional charges for the same work but carry different labels. Ask the firm to explain whether they really are two separate pieces of work or a duplication.

3. Disbursements are too vague

A line such as "miscellaneous RM1,500" with no breakdown makes checking difficult. Where the amount is material, ask for an estimate by category.

Genuine disbursements are not the same as professional fees. But that does not mean any figure can be placed under the heading "disbursements" without explanation.

4. The quotation does not state its assumptions

Costs can change if the transaction involves:

• State Authority consent;

• redemption of the seller's loan;

• a property without a separate individual title;

• perfection of transfer or charge;

• a caveat;

• an estate (a deceased owner);

• a company;

• a foreign buyer;

• additional documents; or

• work outside the usual scope.

If a quotation looks cheap because none of these has been taken into account yet, the figure may not be a like-for-like comparison.

5. A "discount" is used to hide the original calculation

Before getting excited about a discount, check the base fee first. A 25% discount on a wrong base figure still gives you a wrong quotation.

SRO 2023 allows a discount of up to 25% only for certain categories under Table A of the First Schedule and Table A of the Third Schedule. It is not a general reduction on every fee, schedule or disbursement.

What is not proof of overcharging?

Some things often look like overcharging but need a closer look.

Firm A's quotation is higher than Firm B's

That alone proves nothing. Firm A may have included the financing work, certain searches or additional scope that is missing from Firm B's quotation.

Disbursements are higher than you expected

Some payments depend on the state, the instrument and the number of searches or registrations. Ask for a breakdown, and supporting documents where appropriate, rather than assuming every disbursement has one fixed rate.

The total changed after the documents were received

An initial quotation may be based on assumptions. If the title later shows a restriction, charge, caveat or other issue, the scope may change. A reasonable change should be explained, not simply added without context.

A five-line check before you agree

Line 1: the price or transaction value

Is the base figure correct? If the house costs RM700,000 but the quotation uses a different figure, ask why.

Line 2: the SPA and transfer fee

Which SRO schedule is used? What is the fee before discount? What is it after discount?

Line 3: the financing fee

Is the loan documentation included? If so, what financing amount is used?

Line 4: stamp duty and disbursements

Which items are government or third-party payments, and which are only estimates?

Line 5: additional work

Is consent, redemption, perfection or other specialised work already included, or will it be charged later?

With these five lines, two quotations that looked very different at first usually become much easier to compare.

Example: two quotations for a RM500,000 house

Imagine Quotation A sets out:

• the SPA fee after discount;

• the loan documentation fee;

• estimated search and registration costs; and

• estimated stamp duty.

Quotation B shows only a "legal fee package" with a single, lower figure.

Quotation B may genuinely be cheaper. But you will not know until you confirm whether both cover the same work.

The wrong comparison is: "A is RM8,000, B is RM6,000, so A is overcharging."

The right comparison is: "For the SPA alone, what is each firm's scale fee and discount? For the loan, are both handling it? Which disbursements and duties are included? What additional work is excluded?"

What if you genuinely suspect the fee is wrong?

Ask for a written explanation first. Identify the items you do not understand and ask for:

• the SRO category used;

• the value or financing amount used as the basis;

• the fee before and after any discount;

• a breakdown of material disbursements;

• the scope of any additional work; and

• an explanation if the figure has changed from the original quotation.

A calculation error is much easier to correct when the issue is identified precisely.

If a genuine dispute remains after that explanation, get advice on the appropriate channel based on the nature of the dispute and your letter of appointment. This article does not suggest that any firm has acted improperly simply because its quotation is higher.

How ASCOLAW can help

ASCOLAW prepares quotations that separate the professional, financing, disbursement and additional-work components based on the actual transaction, so they are easier to check. To assess the scope of a subsale purchase, we need at least:

• the purchase price;

• the location and type of property;

• the title status, if known;

• whether the seller still has a loan on the property;

• how you are financing the purchase;

• the financing amount, if known;

• the booking form or offer to purchase; and

• any known consent, caveat or special-condition issues.

If you already have a quotation and would like an ASCOLAW quotation for the same transaction, fill in the ASCOLAW enquiry form below and include that quotation with the property details. This lets the comparison be made on the same scope, not just on the final number.

Frequently asked questions

Is a higher lawyer's quotation for a house always an overcharge?

No. The difference may come from a different scope, such as financing documents, searches, consent or redemption work included in one quotation but not the other. Check the professional fee against the correct SRO 2023 category first, then compare the other items.

How do I check the professional fee on a property quotation?

Ask which SRO 2023 schedule and category was used, what value it was calculated on, and what the fee is before and after any discount. For a typical sale and transfer, the scale is 1.25% on the first RM500,000 and 1% on the next RM7 million.

Can a lawyer give a discount on the SRO 2023 scale?

SRO 2023 allows a discount of up to 25% only for certain categories under Table A of the First Schedule and Table A of the Third Schedule. It does not apply to every fee or to disbursements.

Are disbursements part of the lawyer's fee?

No. Disbursements are payments to agencies and third parties, such as searches and registration, and they vary by state and transaction. You can ask for a breakdown by category where the amount is material.

What should I do if I think my quotation is wrong?

Ask the firm for a written explanation of the category, the basis value, the discount and the disbursement breakdown. If a genuine dispute remains after that, get advice on the appropriate channel.

This article is general information only and is not legal advice on any specific facts. Every property transaction is different, so get specific advice from a licensed lawyer before acting. The SRO 2023 scale described here applies in Peninsular Malaysia; Sabah and Sarawak have their own rules on legal fees.

Related guides

• Legal Fees for Buying and Selling a House in Malaysia (2026 Guide)

• Housing Loan & Loan Agreement Legal Fees in Malaysia

• Conveyancing Lawyer in Malaysia: What They Do, Fees & How to Appoint One

• Guide to Appointing a Property Lawyer and the Cost of Fees for House and Land Purchase Transactions