HELP! Bidding @ auction tomorrow but no solicitor yet - will this be a problem?

nina_noodle

Sorry for the repeat post - requested instant email notification this time)

Getting a bit frantic as this is all been very last minute.

Bidding tomorrow on a property that my parents, and grandparents before them, have lived in since it was built, so am very familiar with the property.

Have received the "auction pack" and given it the once over. With just a day's advance notice to spare, the solicitor we sent it to has refused to take it on.

Put simply - can I go to auction tomorrow and successfully bid on a property without any solicitor in place?

And how likely am I to find a solicitor who will take this on at such short notice, to complete within 20 working days?

Any immediate answers will be GREATLY appreciated!

Ta.

Doozergirl

Why did the solicitor refuse?

In your situation, I'd be more than a little unhappy that a solicitor hadn't checked the pack over for me beforehand. Did your family own the house before?

I think you will need to give your solicitors details when you sign contracts and hand over the deposit, but as long as you sign and pay, then they'd probably accept you calling them back with solicitor's details within 24 hours or so. I'd be making some frantic phonecalls tomorrow morning though, to get one arranged just to feel confident in bidding.

My solicitor has gone through many auction properties with us before and I'm happy to recommend her - she's unlikely to be near you but area isn't really an issue as there's no real need to visit them at all. We started using her when we lived in London

I hope you get your house

Debt_Free_Chick

It sounds like you are buying with your heart and not your head... but my comments are probably too late for you.

The solicitor almost certainly did not take you on, as they would not have had time to investigate the purchase and advise you before you went ahead. Also, any decent solicitor isn't sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for new work to land on their desk. If they're that good, they have more than enough to do and can't simply squeeze you in at short notice.

nina_noodle

hmmm... you might be right about the head/heart thing.
Too detailed to go into now, but suffice to say that we didn't find out about the auction until just over a week ago. My dad still lives in the property and has done all his life, in fact he was born there. His lovely landlord (a distant family member I might add) didn't have the decency to tell him about auction or offer him first refusal on the sale, knowing that it's been a wish for our family for decades. Hence scrambling things together last minute.
Finance is in place, but only got the relevant info to the solicitor today, so you're right - very short notice to be squeezed in...

Whether anyone will squeeze us in remains to be seen.

Let the nailbiting commence.