17 weeks later and no keys...

gauly

I don't think a solicitor would normally chase up the vendors or anything like that - they are just there to do the legal stuff. Normally the estate agent finds a suitable date for completion and chases up the chain so it's them you should be hassling. Similarly your solicitor isn't going to request the mortgage funds until after contracts have been exchanged (unless you are exchanging and completing on the same day). Can't really see what your solicitors are doing wrong here?

mel_6688

The solicitors told us that we were exchanging and completing on friday, as far as my estate agents knew the money had been requested on tuesday ready for friday. During my third phone call on friday someone finally told me that they hadnt actually requested the funds yet.

Later on friday he said they would exchange today and complete on thursday but why he gave me a date without checking with the sellers solicitors i dont understand

sarah_elton

Before exchange, no one is committed to the purchase - anyone can walk away at any time with no penalty at all (except they've wasted their solicitors and other costs).

You can threaten to pull out but (1) it might not achieve anything and (2) the seller might say "ok fine, can't be bothered selling any more" (unlikely but possible).

Upon exchange, a completion date is set and is legally binding.

You're not being petulant; it has been a long time. You can try the tack of "We're getting concerned now that this won't go through - why is there a delay?" Maybe the seller is having trouble arranging his/her move. Maybe there's some personal reason going on you don't know about. Or maybe they're just lazy. Ask the EA to get to the bottom of exactly what's holding things up and, as I said earlier, focus on getting exchanged because then you can breathe easier.