We want to exchange this week but...

Richard_Webster

that they haven’t received our mortgage offer

If the solicitors haven't received the mortgage offer it is most likely OP hasn't received it either - and if that's the case how did OP think the property was going to be purchased without mortgage funding and what was the point of agreeing a completion date without a mortgage offer?

Ultranol_2

We received our mortgage offer last week and have asked several times for our solicitors to confirm that they have received it too! I just wish they had flagged it earlier as it is so important - they basically just haven't been communicating with us.

GDB2222

Did you choose your solicitor because he:
a) Was one of the cheapest you could find, or
b) Charges a reasonable fee that he can live on and still give a decent level of service?

phil_b_2

When I bought my house my soliciter was pretty much the same. SOOO SLOWWW!

I had to hound them regularly to keep things moving. I got the impression that they generally have much bigger fish to fry than mortagage stuff and our case (as well as all other mortgages) was low on their agenda.

All you can do really is ring for updates and keep giving them a nudge. The process can take a while. I was an FTB, there was no chain etc, but it all took nearly 12 weeks I think.

Richard_Webster

Who is mortgage lender and did you give them your solicitor's name?

Ultranol_2

Our lender is First Direct, and yes they do have all our solicitor's details. It's probably just a case of the offer getting lost or delayed in the post but it's frustrating that when we thought we were almost there, we were then told about an issue which could have been resolved a week ago if we'd only known.

GDB2222 - no we didn't go for the cheapest solicitor we could find. We went for one which we could afford, and that had mostly good reviews - as well as some not so good reviews. Anyway, no matter how much you pay for a solicitor, it's always a considerable amount of money (in my opinion) and as you are their client they should at least return your calls and emails and let you know what's going on!

timmyt

a solicitor is the cheapest party in a house move, even a surveyor comes out more and all other parties have exclusion clauses, lawyers do not.

and yet the lawyers job is the most important too.

if you go cheap like most forum readers/posters then the legal outfit (and they wont be a lawyer) will have as much respect for your deal as you clearly o not. sorry, but if you pay peanuts (i.e under £500 plus VAT for say £250 house purchase) then good luck to you. Lawyers sepdn weeks on your deal, and for just £500. A surveyor spends 45 mins and gets the same, an agent can spent a few days, a mortgage company too, charge twice lawyers on their arrangement fee.

No lawyer is going to go that extra mile for you if you pay rock bottom. They make so little from a conveyance as is. To make a profit on a fee of say £350 corners are cut, calls not answered, or answered by the 'dial 1 for crap and dial 2 for crapper' brigade.

So you have gone cheap.....or 'what you can afford' I should say....well, you are clearly IT literate so if you google usual steps in a purchase you will note that you have neither signed a mortgage deed, a contract, a stamp duty form or even had a property report summarising what you are going to buy.....at what point did you think you were able to exchange?

Sorry it sounds tough, but I hope there are a lot of readers who will start to get a bit more respectful of their own property deals if you expect your agents (the lawyers, yes most of you will not get a lawyer for your cheap fee) to.

GDB2222

Ultranol wrote: »

Anyway, no matter how much you pay for a solicitor, it's always a considerable amount of money (in my opinion) and as you are their client they should at least return your calls and emails and let you know what's going on!

They probably will get round to it eventually, or more likely their computer system will churn out a letter letting you know when the next stage has been reached.

Let me put it this way, my Volvo main dealers in London charge £150/hour for a mechanic (sorry, motor engineer!). It takes say 5 hours to do a straightforward conveyance, so at mechanic's rates you would be looking at £750.

If you are paying significantly less than that figure, then your solicitors certainly won't be able to afford to have the guy who actually knows what he's doing answering your calls. They'll have junior staff to field your calls.

timmyt

GDB2222 - that is the best explanation for paying a proper price that I have heard in over a decade.

Absolutely spot on!