House sale Coming up for 12 weeks and still not exchanged
Discussion
14th April house goes on the market , 20th April house sale agreed , first time buyer and we're not buying another property so no chain
16th July , still not exchanged, the buyer is adamant he still wants to buy it
Our solicitor is never in the office, they offer conveyancing but based on my experience they shouldn't because all I ever get when I ring is the secretary , the solicitor is ALWAYS out of the office/ with a client
The buyers firm are online and it seems uncontactable other than by email
On the advice of the estate agent we've given their solicitors a deadline of Thursday to exchange or it goes back on the market. we've had no advice at all from our solicitors on how to speed things up, all they say is they email but the other side replies via the mail which seems odd for an online firm.
They're asking questions 11 weeks in which are either in the information they already have or easily found out
Anybody been through something similar, it's a long time since I sold a house
Is there anything else I should be doing before Thursday comes and goes because my patience is wearing thin, they've had the contract for 6 weeks now
16th July , still not exchanged, the buyer is adamant he still wants to buy it
Our solicitor is never in the office, they offer conveyancing but based on my experience they shouldn't because all I ever get when I ring is the secretary , the solicitor is ALWAYS out of the office/ with a client
The buyers firm are online and it seems uncontactable other than by email
On the advice of the estate agent we've given their solicitors a deadline of Thursday to exchange or it goes back on the market. we've had no advice at all from our solicitors on how to speed things up, all they say is they email but the other side replies via the mail which seems odd for an online firm.
They're asking questions 11 weeks in which are either in the information they already have or easily found out
Anybody been through something similar, it's a long time since I sold a house
Is there anything else I should be doing before Thursday comes and goes because my patience is wearing thin, they've had the contract for 6 weeks now
Andehh said:
Change solicitor at your end immediately, keep phoning Estate agent and warn them you will walk away & put the house on the market.
How long are you stuck with current Estate agent? Them loosing their commission will bring them back into line of chasing the buyer!
This is the problem, the estate agent is chasing the buyer but their solicitors in his words shouldn't be practicing law How long are you stuck with current Estate agent? Them loosing their commission will bring them back into line of chasing the buyer!
the house is a town house with an entry between, over the entry is a bedroom , our house has the back half of the entry , bigger bathroom, next door has the front, bigger bedroom, 9 weeks in they ask who owns the bit over the entry at the front ! The information is in their file , it's been like that for weeks one question at a time by letter through the post
I was going to give it until Thursday when the deadline expires and if it's still not exchanged it'll be back on the market with a new solicitor
fesuvious said:
Average offer to completion period we keep data for is 12-17 weeks.
This referenced across @10k customers in total.
'Convey Law' recently put out that their average timeframe is 12 weeks. They claim to be the largest conveyancing firm in the country.
12 weeks being the figure they were happy to release to the press.......
Our solicitors say they're responding to questions from the searches as they come in , the estate agent says he has properties that have exchanged that sold a month after mine which have been through the same searches This referenced across @10k customers in total.
'Convey Law' recently put out that their average timeframe is 12 weeks. They claim to be the largest conveyancing firm in the country.
12 weeks being the figure they were happy to release to the press.......
12 weeks sounds too long to me
Edited by wack on Sunday 17th July 18:32
My last purchase took about 16 weeks. We were cash buyers and the property had been vacant for over 2 years. Even then it nearly fell through on the morning of exchange/completion.
My last sale (an empty rental to a 1st time buyer) took a similar amount of time. At one point our solicitor managed to get the address, price and my name wrong in the same letter. An entire industry full of cretins.
12 weeks would not give me any cause for concern. Most of the complaints about the other solicitors will be lies.
My last sale (an empty rental to a 1st time buyer) took a similar amount of time. At one point our solicitor managed to get the address, price and my name wrong in the same letter. An entire industry full of cretins.
12 weeks would not give me any cause for concern. Most of the complaints about the other solicitors will be lies.
Have your buyers done a survey?
Have your solicitors received any questions from the buyer's solicitor? (And have yours replied..?) e: just seen above post.
Are they approved for a mortgage IN FULL?
If no to any of these, I'd be putting in strict deadlines.
Are your local council particularly slow at answering questions ? It might be that his solicitor is just waiting for the council/searches etc to come back before proceeding with more correspondence - but 12 weeks is definitely slow. Good luck!
Have your solicitors received any questions from the buyer's solicitor? (And have yours replied..?) e: just seen above post.
Are they approved for a mortgage IN FULL?
If no to any of these, I'd be putting in strict deadlines.
Are your local council particularly slow at answering questions ? It might be that his solicitor is just waiting for the council/searches etc to come back before proceeding with more correspondence - but 12 weeks is definitely slow. Good luck!
essayer said:
Have your buyers done a survey?
Have your solicitors received any questions from the buyer's solicitor? (And have yours replied..?)
Are they approved for a mortgage IN FULL?
If no to any of these, I'd be putting in strict deadlines.
Are your local council particularly slow at answering questions ? It might be that his solicitor is just waiting for the council/searches etc to come back before proceeding with more correspondence - but 12 weeks is definitely slow. Good luck!
Survey was done in early May, no issues reported Have your solicitors received any questions from the buyer's solicitor? (And have yours replied..?)
Are they approved for a mortgage IN FULL?
If no to any of these, I'd be putting in strict deadlines.
Are your local council particularly slow at answering questions ? It might be that his solicitor is just waiting for the council/searches etc to come back before proceeding with more correspondence - but 12 weeks is definitely slow. Good luck!
Loads of questions, all by mail , every time I ring the secretary always has a tape ready to type which I'm sure is BS
Buyers have a large deposit and according to the agent ar good to go, contract signed
The buyers are Eastern European , I was concerned they were delaying to see if anything happens re BREXIT but they've given notice on their rental property and were round with the agent last week measuring for curtains
I'll ring the agent in the morning to check he's actually seen a mortgage offer , he does seem very professional, local guy with a business at stake rather than a national chain
I'll ring the agent in the morning to check he's actually seen a mortgage offer , he does seem very professional, local guy with a business at stake rather than a national chain
Personally I try to cut down the chain - so I'll talk to the buyer directly and frequently his solicitor too.
I would refuse to sell to someone using an online solicitor - they are cr@p - as you've found - all you can do now is give the buyer a deadline or get him to change solicitors as he has a survey etc it seems silly to drop him.
You may wish to change your solicitor too - ask the Agent / friends who's good, my guy is twice the price of many but he returns calls at worst within 24hrs and is very good.
I would refuse to sell to someone using an online solicitor - they are cr@p - as you've found - all you can do now is give the buyer a deadline or get him to change solicitors as he has a survey etc it seems silly to drop him.
You may wish to change your solicitor too - ask the Agent / friends who's good, my guy is twice the price of many but he returns calls at worst within 24hrs and is very good.
Tell the buyers and their conveyancers that the price will raise by 20k if they don't exchange by a certain date.
It's the most frustrating process, yet it needn't be.
I just bought a property at auction. Legal pack on the day contained all searches, exchange of contracts on that day and completed in 17 days flat.
However I bought my own home and it took 5 months of constant chasing and emailing and ringing to get anyone to do anything from both sides. (no chains)
It's the most frustrating process, yet it needn't be.
I just bought a property at auction. Legal pack on the day contained all searches, exchange of contracts on that day and completed in 17 days flat.
However I bought my own home and it took 5 months of constant chasing and emailing and ringing to get anyone to do anything from both sides. (no chains)
dazwalsh said:
However I bought my own home and it took 5 months of constant chasing and emailing and ringing to get anyone to do anything from both sides. (no chains)
That doesn't sound hopeful Solicitors and weather forecasters , the only 50k jobs you can be crap at and still get paid
Our buyers used an online/call centre solicitors, they were beyond useless. The solicitors on our side actually said that her firm now refuses to sell to someone using said online firm. We had 3 solid offers on our house, and chose the FTBers, thinking it would be easier, had we known they were using an online solicitors we would have gone with someone else.
To counter the "it's normal" posts, when we bought our current house we had moved in with the in-laws after selling the old house, and vendor was moving in with partner so there was no chain.
We moved in 6 weeks after our first viewing.
The key for me was that both sides were using local solicitors - if papers needed signing we popped into their office and it was done in hours.
Looking to move again shortly and there's no way I will be "saving a few quid" by using a "call centre" solicitor. Same reason I refused to use an online agency (house we are potentially buying is on with an online agency and they are useless).
We moved in 6 weeks after our first viewing.
The key for me was that both sides were using local solicitors - if papers needed signing we popped into their office and it was done in hours.
Looking to move again shortly and there's no way I will be "saving a few quid" by using a "call centre" solicitor. Same reason I refused to use an online agency (house we are potentially buying is on with an online agency and they are useless).
We had a terrible time as buyers because our sellers used a call Center solicitor recommended by one of the big estate agents. As a result, when something went wrong (bona vocantia charge on the property) the sols didn't have a clue what to do and left it with no action for two months l... They were even being chased by the bona vocantia office (government being more efficient than private enterprise).
You need to find out a few things
1) When did buyer pay for searches, if it was after mortgage valuation then 12 weeks understandable. Some buyers don't/won't pay for searches until they are 100% sure that they can get a mortgage on the property they are buying, this always slows things down.
2) Your agent must know, when was mortgage valuation, when did buyer pay for searches,when did searches come back,
Its a pain but 12 weeks is fairly normal,
I would be inclined to pay a visit to your solicitor and ask to see the file, then you will know what has actually gone on. Every solicitor blames the other side
Good luck
1) When did buyer pay for searches, if it was after mortgage valuation then 12 weeks understandable. Some buyers don't/won't pay for searches until they are 100% sure that they can get a mortgage on the property they are buying, this always slows things down.
2) Your agent must know, when was mortgage valuation, when did buyer pay for searches,when did searches come back,
Its a pain but 12 weeks is fairly normal,
I would be inclined to pay a visit to your solicitor and ask to see the file, then you will know what has actually gone on. Every solicitor blames the other side
Good luck
wack said:
dazwalsh said:
However I bought my own home and it took 5 months of constant chasing and emailing and ringing to get anyone to do anything from both sides. (no chains)
That doesn't sound hopeful Solicitors and weather forecasters , the only 50k jobs you can be crap at and still get paid
wack said:
dazwalsh said:
However I bought my own home and it took 5 months of constant chasing and emailing and ringing to get anyone to do anything from both sides. (no chains)
That doesn't sound hopeful Solicitors and weather forecasters , the only 50k jobs you can be crap at and still get paid
Took me 7 months from offer to exchange and there wasnt even anything complicated.
With any communication chain you will generally experience the chinese whispers, your agent will tell you what you want to hear, your solicitor will blame the other solicitor, your buyer will blame the lender and so it goes on. Sometimes it is made worse when one, or more, party is incompetent.
My last move was typical of this, I had already moved and the old house was going to first time buyers. They were the ones who wanted a 1st September completion, to tie in with giving up a rental. They were the ones who delayed searches, as their mortgage offer was not in place, despite what the agent told me.
They held back exchange finally exchanging and completing on the same day. When this appeared to be what was going to happen I warned the agent that any attempt to lower the offer on exchange would be met with a refusal to sell to them at all.
I also made a point of saying that I had not arranged to clear the house, as I was uncertain that the sale was going through, this did result in a few slightly panicked phone calls back and forth.
My last move was typical of this, I had already moved and the old house was going to first time buyers. They were the ones who wanted a 1st September completion, to tie in with giving up a rental. They were the ones who delayed searches, as their mortgage offer was not in place, despite what the agent told me.
They held back exchange finally exchanging and completing on the same day. When this appeared to be what was going to happen I warned the agent that any attempt to lower the offer on exchange would be met with a refusal to sell to them at all.
I also made a point of saying that I had not arranged to clear the house, as I was uncertain that the sale was going through, this did result in a few slightly panicked phone calls back and forth.
Me and my mate buy 5/6 properties per year, 12 weeks is the norm now. The sale of a property finally went through on Friday to first time buyers and they took 15 weeks, even though the property we sold them was empty. I've bought in 2 weeks so it can be done much quicker, but the days of 6 weeks for an average sale are no longer with us.
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