how long to exchange contracts

sirish1979

We have our offer on a house accepted on 19 of feb.
Appointed solicitors survey finished and recieved our mortgage offer also ten days ago.

But the solicitor didnt inform us anything yet about when we will exchange or when we will complete or anything.
I was so looking forward to move during the april easter holidays as it will be easy for us to sort things out during holidays.
But this process is streching for so long time.

Can anyone give any idea is this actually supposed to take this long, called to my solicitor many times she says that the vendors solicitors take a lot of time. Can I do anything to make it move quicker.

Edit: Atlast after a long wait our solicitor called today to inform that we will be exchanging contracts on friday yippeee
fingers crossed now :-))

Emmzi

i think your timescale is a little ambitious.

Only thing that has worked for me is telling them when my mortgage offer expires "so if we haven't completed by then we won't be able to complete until I reapply."

Yorkie1

I doubt there's much you can do other than keep in contact with your solicitor and reply immediately to any queries she raises with you.

As a buyer your solicitor will have lots of searches to carry out and other documents to obtain. Local authorities can take time to reply to searches.

Then there may well be specific questions for the seller as a result of the survey, searches etc. The seller also has to complete forms which set out what fixtures and fittings they are leaving behind, and information about the property / services / utilities etc.

It can take a long time for these things to get sorted out and short of bugging the estate agent to kick the seller up the backside (not something I'm recommending), you will have to be patient. Easter is some weeks away so all is not lost yet. It might partly depend on the state of the rest of the chain, if there is one.

sirish1979

Emmzi wrote: »

i think your timescale is a little ambitious.

there was no chain either with us or the vendors so many frens told it will take very less time. after reading many posts in here now i m getting a feel of things

Marvel1

I put my offer in July and it was completed in November, I had a very slow solicitor.

I was a FTB and the seller didn't live there.

Be warned with Easter coming up there are a lot of bank holiday's (I can't wait for the time off work) which will further delay the process if not completed by then.

sirish1979

cjdavies wrote: »

I put my offer in July and it was completed in November, I had a very slow solicitor.

I was a FTB and the seller didn't live there.

God :eek::eek::eek:

satchmeister

It can be done in a week, but more often than not takes two or three months.

G_M

The only actions you can take are to call your solicitor (but if he's waiting for search results or the seller's solicitor there's little he can do),

or call the estate agent (though he has no real role in the process now except as 'facilitator')

or call the seller (who may be able to call their solicitor to ensure no one is 'sitting on' paperwork)

But the real lesson is..... patience.

Marvel1

sirish1979 wrote: »

God :eek::eek::eek:

I know, it was back in 2007, I had to check my paperwork to see it I was right and I'm still shocked myself.

neverdespairgirl

We made an offer three weeks ago. All the searches are done, and we're looking to exchange next week,

Jenniefour

Waiting for solicitor to tell you completion date not wise. Solicitor indicating when they have completed everything and ready to exchange is different - they need to be working to your timescale, providing it's realistic. Your mortgage offer is through - that's the thing that can often take ages these days. So I would now be speaking to a) the agent and get them to agree with other side completion at Easter and to be pushing the other side if they're being slow, both vendor and solicitor, and b) your solicitor for a complete up date on where they are and exactly what else they might be waiting for - then straight back to agents and tell them what's needed. Get that agent working. Key is having two efficient solicitors, an estate agent who's actively pushing along the process and a vendor who realises importance of responding/supplying to their solicitor in a timely manner. Keep making those phone calls - agents and solicitors are being paid to get the job done for you and the vendor.