House buying Timescales- Need opinions?

ben1985

Hello everyone,

I'm buying a flat and are getting way frustrated with my solicitor.
I made an offer at the end of May on the flat it, it got accepted and then my Estate agent referred the conveyancing to a firm in Leeds called Blacks Solicitors.

I signed the letter of instruction on the 1st June. It was then down to NatWest to do all there work and with a lot of calling and keeping tabs on them they seem to have done very well. They underwrote my mortgage, instructed the valuer, underwrote the valuation and send the mortgage offer early LAST week. This was sent to the solicitor last week.

Until the END of last week my solicitor was waiting for a copy of the lease, they finally got it last Friday. I then phoned up my solicitor yesterday and she mentioned she was still waiting for the HIP, after 4 weeks it had not been sent, the lease only got sent with me badgering my solicitor and the vendors estate agent to get it done.

My Solicitor mentioned yesterday she would send off for the searches yesterday ( I assumed she had already done them as the money for them was taken off early June)

So that's the joke of a saga so far....

Regarding holidays to move in I spoke to my manager and have got some dates in August (2 weeks). I gave my solicitor a completion deadline of Friday 31st July 2009, this is currently 4 weeks and 3 days which after almost 4-5 weeks so far seems easily achievable. Just to give you all a head up on what's been done so you can gauge if you think my solicitor can meet my latest date.

• Offer Accepted (End May)
• Solicitor Instructed (1st June)
• Mortgage Underwritten, flat valued, valuation underwritten, mortgage offer issued and sent back to solicitor (June)
• Lease finally arrived at solicitor (end of last week)
• Searches was authorised (One's Not in HIP) (yesterday)
• My Solicitor confirmed they have received the contract from the sellers solicitor (weeks ago)

They are still awaiting:

• HIP
• And for me to Exchange and Completion.

Also to inform everybody the people that I am buying the flat from already have a property waiting for them which they are ready to move in, this was confirmed by the seller at my 2nd viewing.

So mainly my questions are:

• How can I speed up my solicitor to ensure my completion deadline is met whilst still making her sick of me to get all the work done but NOT until she gets mega Pi**ed off
• Do you think my completion deadline is achievable considering what's been done

Please help, I need all your answers to sort this mess out as my workload at the moment is sky-high and this farce is stressing me out even more, especially when it seems the slowness is down to lazy and slow solicitors (mine or vendors)

Regards

Ben

Conrad

To be frank you need to chill-out.
It takes as long as it takes.
In my 19 years I've know it take from 4 weeks to 1 year. There are thousands of unknowns and potential blind bends in the road.

Most clients go with the flow, but a minority work themselves into a frenzy - all stress is self inflicted.

Thrugelmir

You are not the only person buying and selling a house, and you haven't contracted for the exclusive time of all parties concerned. So take it easy.

Whilst you can request a completion date. Your solicitor can only deal with everything in due process.

Next time why not do your own conveyancing? You may then find its often a little more complex that you suggest.

lazysaver_2

As mentioned above, it does take as long as it takes and its so frustrating!! But to be honest, I think your deadline is unlikely if you haven't even exchanged. It took me 3 months from offer to completion on my flat and there wasn't even a chain!

All I would say about Blacks is that I have used them recently for a share of freehold purchase and they were really good - it was our freeholder that was a nightmare and our neighbours solicitor who kept giving them stupid advice delaying things for no reason. Blacks cut through all their rubbish (to be polite!) and I was very pleased with them and was thinking of using them again when I sell my flat.

On a general note, with the market being so slow solicitors are not very busy so aren't exactly rushing through their workload - along the lines of "need to look busy"! There really isn't much else you can do. I wouldn't worry about p-ing off the solicitors - a friendly call every couple of days is fine. But giving them deadlines isn't going to make them go any faster I am afraid. Can you not leave your holiday dates open until things have moved on a bit??

This is why they say moving house is one of the most stressful things we ever do!

Thrugelmir

Remember you seller may not be in a hurry at the moment either.....

They'll speed up when it suits them.

ben1985

Hi, thanks for all the advice so far. When I spoke to the seller originally they wanted to be as quick as possible and I hope this has not changed. Like I mentioned my solicitor has received the contract from the sellers so the signs show they are very keen surely?

I've just been on the phone to the estate agent and they mentioned they have sent Blacks a copy of the HIP (Electronic copy), that was all they was awaiting so I've just e-mailed Blacks with a few more questions. I expect an e-mail back by 2pm at latest else they will be getting a call.:rolleyes:

Another concern was when Blacks did not get the HIP weeks ago they did not chase it up!!!, I had to do this myself by getting in contact with the estate agent and they sent Blacks a copy, what are Blacks doing when they're getting paid?!!

The only efficient person in ALL of this saga so far is the estate agent. They've been on the ball nearly all the time. Obviously they are after their commission but Blacks are still getting paid so I've no time for niceties! !

I'll update you all soon with relevant progress (and trust me there better be some:rolleyes:)

Regards

BW

Pee

The agents should be able to move matters along by chasing the appropriate solicitor, too.

Realistically, I will be very surprised if you are completing by then. If the lease only came through Friday, any problems in there haven't been flagged up yet. I think you will be lucky to exchange by the end of July.

Bear in mind there are other people's holidays likely to affect this.

ben1985

My assigned solicitor dealing with the case had a holiday last week and anyway people can cover peoples work.

Trust me:rolleyes:, it will be completed by end of July, that is totally realistic and if I need to drive to Blacks office in Leeds then I will do (that will be hell on like:mad::rolleyes:)

You need to push lazy solicitors along, nearly everybody I've spoken to confirm this:p

Thrugelmir

ben1985 wrote: »

My assigned solicitor dealing with the case had a holiday last week and anyway people can cover peoples work.

Trust me:rolleyes:, it will be completed by end of July, that is totally realistic and if I need to drive to Blacks office in Leeds then I will do (that will be hell on like:mad::rolleyes:)

You need to push lazy solicitors along, nearly everybody I've spoken to confirm this:p

I hope that you do your own job with the same efficency. Seeing as your probably spending a lot of your employers time chasing and thinking about this matter. :rolleyes:

ben1985

Oh Yes;), I can assure you I am as efficient at my job as dealing with this case.

BW

Pee

You will learn a lot from buying this house - oh, hang on, you already have learnt a lot and know how long it is going to take. Since you already know the answer, I would bother with any more suggestions.