average time from accepting offer to completion?

ClaudiaC_3

What is the average time, provided there are no complications whatsoever, from when an offer is accepted to completion date?
What would be the worst case scenario and what are the reason for taking that long if no problems?

We've accepted offer on our house and our offer on a new house was accepted officially on the 30th April.

Our buyers are first time buyers, the person we're buying from is moving in with his new partner, so not a huge chain.

I am having problems with my solicitors as I think they are being extremely slow and I cannot get a proper update.
When I rang them 2 weeks ago they told me that they sent and received contracts, and snet them back with some standard queries. When I pushed her to get me an estimate she said from her usually 2-3 weeks.
I spoke to her again today and whe I asked her for an update she told me the exact same things as 2 weeks ago (probably forgetting what she told me last time???).
I was then told it is "far too early" to be even thinking about completion date.
When I pointed out sh etold me exactly the same things las 2 weeks earlier and I was a bit confused as to why it hasn't moved on at all, she said that all was proceeding in a very standard way and that this was as swiftly as to be expected.

Is that right? I have had reason to complain about this solicitor before on here and I have a complaint letter written which I will send to the senior partner, but I need to know if I am expecting too much or if it really this timing is normal.

My mother in law accepted an offer on her house on the 1st June and they are exchanging contracts today. Ok, it is a straight sale only to a cash buyer, but even so!?

Many thanks!

Claudia

chickmug

The trouble is there are so many factors that can affect the time span.

Even with very active buyers and sellers it can take as long as the slowest person/s in the chain. By the slowest person/s I mean one of the solicitors, one of the lenders, one of the valuers, one of the FA's or even the buyer or seller. Sometimes one of the latter can say they are in a rush but at the same time they have told their solicitor to slow it down.

Fastest I used to see was a few weeks for cash buyers, with no surveys or valuations, or upwards/downwards chains. The slowest I wouldn't dare say as it would cause your stress levels to explode.

So 6/8 weeks may be in the middle but one thing for sure is your solicitor is acting like most I knew. A law (excuse the pun) unto themselves and not seeing why they should update you with the attitude of 'who do you think you are'?

Keep chasing and at a greater frequency and use your agent to do it for you and they can suffer the silly comments of your solicitor.

boots_babe

I think it can vary hugely. We had our offer accpted on 1st June, and due to exchange this Friday. That is with me keeping on top of things with solicitor and EA, but certainly I could have pushed much harder had I wanted to get things done more quickly.

JayZed

My last property sale/purchase took six months from offer to completion. There were no complications, just a woefully incompetent and/or lazy solicitor working for our purchasers. Our solicitor spent all his time chasing her (for paperwork, not in a romantic way).

The first time that we bought a property we used a cheap online conveyancing solicitor, who was next to useless. That transaction took four months. On the basis of that experience I would never again use a cheapo online solicitor.

So I tend to agree with chickmug, you need a good solicitor, and hope that your purchasers and vendors have good solicitors too.

ClaudiaC_3

Thanks for all this info.
What rights do I have to request a timeline of what this solicitor has done so far?
To check her work and query why it is taking so long?
SO far they have made a few mistakes along the lines, sending letters asking for stuff I had sent the previosu weeks, losing cheques delaying searches etc.
After all I am paying them to work for me, not the other way around so they should show me what they have done if I ask so, with dates etc?
Who checks that solicitors are actually working appropriately and in the interests of the clients? What happens if I do send a complaint letter to the senior partner?

I am getting very frustrated, all our friends and neighbours keep asking if we have a date yet as they know how much we wanted this house as we were gutted that it nearly went to someone else as we weren't in the position of making an offer not having had an offer on our house yet. Every time we say we still don't know they open their eyes wide as it has gone on for 9 weeks now and I didn't like the "it is far too early to be thinking about completion dates". Surely NOT "far too early"?
Or should I just be patient and wait?

I'll take the advice on board and I will get my EA to contact them to check how things are going .... thanks again all of you.
Claudia