That low? I can't recall the plan fee, but a deed is $75 give or take.?ÿ?ÿ
Plan fee in Mass. is also $75 per sheet. Then you have the cost of driving into the city to drop it off. My office is located about equidistant between the Worcester Registry, and the Suffolk (Boston) and Middlesex South (Cambridge) registries, but driving time is signficantly shorter getting in to Worcester. Hourly fee for the service of filing it. Most plans get sent to the client or an attorney for them to do the recording, since they usually have deeds or other documents to record at the same time.
Here we have a type of plat called a retracement that requires no signatures or approvals from County officials.
It costs $8 and until yesterday I charged $25 but I have decided to up that to $50.
You guys keep referring to obtaining signatures and approvals and that is not what I am seeking.
Edit: It must suck to have to get the signatures and blessings from a know nothing administrator for every darned survey you do. How has it gotten to that point and why do you not try and change it.?ÿ I can understand and agree with approvals if you are changing lines or splitting property but if you are just doing a retracement of an existing lot and recording it why in God's name do you have to get some administrative assistants signature.
I am not sure what you are charging for. If you are charging for the time it takes to file/record your rate sounds way to low. Where I work it doesnt take any special knowledge or skill to file/record you just hand in the mylar and pay the fee. The land owner can do it just as easily as I can. I usually do it because I am responsible for meeting the recording requirements, not the land owner.?ÿ
I have a line item in the bill, that covers the fee, but the extra is either worked into the contract or charged at the hourly rates, whichever the case may be.?ÿ
If I was a client I wouldn't be happy seeing a markup like that. I guess it depends on how you present it, but if I saw a line item that said, "recording fee", and it was higher than the fee that is published by the local government I would start questioning everything on the bill.?ÿ
Since we are only talking about $50, that amount is easily washed out by the charges to actually prepare the plat. If a client pays $5,000 (the average price for a few acres here) for a survey, which included a substantial amount of office work charges alteady, adding another $50 may rub some the wrong way.?ÿ
Of course you know your clients and your business better than anyone else. So your decision is probably better than any of our armchair opinions.?ÿ
"What say you, is $25 a good markup for a $8 cost?"
No, I'd charge an additional $187 for professional fees for $195 total.?ÿ Make money, isn't that why you are in business??ÿ?ÿ ?????ÿ
I don't charge anything specific to record a plat - it's part of the fixed fee for the job. BTW - recording fees in AZ are $24?ÿ for 1 sheet, additional sheets are $20 oer sheet.
Overcharging for a clerical function seems a good way to sour the whole experience for the client.
Whether or not recording is mandatory would have some bearing on the matter?
I think an attorney would only charge their time plus the fee.
A 50 flat fee seems fair, 15 minutes at 200 per.
Not sure why I am chiming in on this, I have never written an invoice. ???? ?ÿ
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Here in Ohio there's no standard, some counties require a new split be recorded some filed at the tax map office with no recording fee. What ever cost are listed as a reimbursable expense. What ever time we have in recording/filing gets charged out hourly as project management.
I charge $125 just to record the plat.?ÿ
Josh Lewis 4
Atlanta GA
I charge $250 to record a plat.?ÿ The county fees are $21, my time and liability have a cost attached to them. If we are talking a subdivision I pass those costs along to the client.?ÿ
Holy cow,?ÿ now that is what I'm talking about. I guess if you can get it by all means do it. Are you talking about any old single lot plat??ÿ
And I was sorta feeling a like $30 might be a stretch but maybe I will go to $50. This is a service that very few know how to do so why not charge for it.
That is for any single lot. I have a couple of real estate attorneys that prefer them recorded for closings, people don't seem to mind if it comes out at closing. If I am subdividing a property the price goes up. Typically I charge $400 for the first lot and $300 per lot after, plus whatever city/county fees are involved.
I charge $125 just to record the plat.?ÿ
Josh Lewis 4
Atlanta GA
Thanks Josh, that is market info I asked for and need.?ÿ
