How long should it take between offer accepted and completion?

bee101 · 18 June 2011 at 6:56PM

Hi there,
My partner and I are first time buyers. We had our offer accepted on the property we are buying on the 7th May. We have had our mortgage agreed and there are no issues at all with that side of things. However, we still haven't heard anything more from our solicitor. We were told that they were doing the searches and that as soon as they were done they would contact us. But that was 1 month ago. I have emailed for updates but each time get the same response: "We're still waiting for the searches to come back, we'll update you as soon as they are back." With being first time buyers and have very limited knowledge about how all this works, we are wondering what is the average time between the offer being accepted and completion? Do you think we should have been further along by now or is this normal? We haven't received any exchange or completion dates yet and when I spoke to our life insurance advisor the other day (to confirm when we would like the life insurance to start from) he seemed shocked that we hadn't even had a completion date yet. We are getting a little anxious now that this is taking longer than it should (or are we just being impatient?).

Thanks

sonastin · 18 June 2011 at 7:30PM

Its a "how long is a piece of string" question. Average figures for straightforward purchases lie somewhere between 6 & 12 weeks but so many factors come into play to influence the timescale.

Call your solicitor and talk to them about it. Ask for more details so you have more understanding of what is going on...
which searches have been requested?
when?
which have they got results for?
which are they still waiting for?
how long does it usually take to get results back from whoever they've been requested from? (some councils are quicker than others, some of the other searches are quicker than others, etc)
what else does the solicitor need to do?(e.g. queries with the vendors, receive mortgage offer, etc)

If you understand what is being done and when you can expect it to be done and moving on to the next thing, you'll feel more in control of the process.

Eve1 · 18 June 2011 at 8:33PM

Hello all,

Im in the same position

Price Agreed
Solicitor appointed
Mortgage Approved - Mortgage valuation completed
Survey completed, two minor points - sent through to Solicitor
Vendor is in same situation with their new property - he is moving
into a vacant property, therefore no chain.

Can anyone advise what happens next as im not sure who to chase.....?!

Thanks helpful peeps

ChrisEvanson · 18 June 2011 at 8:36PM

What he said lol. Really it depends on so many things but yes you should have had more information and contact. Sold mine stc four weeks ago and am in contact with solicitor by email or phone at least once a week. None of this contact is 'we are waiting for more' it is a progress report on what they have done and what has come back. We have submitted questions to ask the vendors (eg re right of way access arrangements and flooding risk), had some reports back (chancel check, coal mining report etc, which were emailed to me). Have chased surveyors and mortgage broker and kept solicitor involved of the progress of same, which at least gets a thank you email back.

We set a target date and communication has also been on whether this is still deemed to be viable.

I have to say that many solicitors don't communicate freely unless you prompt them, so an email or call querying something and asking for progress or 'where are we currently?' is one way to clarify.

KateLiana27 · 18 June 2011 at 8:42PM

8-12 weeks if all goes smoothly. The time taken for many searches is usually more or less constant for each local area, so check with your council (ours is 10 working days, some are less). A month is too long and suggests to me that the solicitor was later in submitting them than they're admitting to. Or the request got lost in the post. Or something.

Agree with Sonastin that you are well within your rights to get more detailed information from your solicitor - remember you are paying them for their service! It does irritates me when a solicitor thinks it is enough to post a letter and sit back until a reply comes. If there is an unusual delay with something, they should be CHASING it, trying to identify and solve any problems, and communicating with you.

jodami84 · 18 June 2011 at 10:05PM

We had our offer accepted on the 10th May and are dure to complete on Mon (touch wood). No chain involved so its flown through

cjmumto2 · 18 June 2011 at 10:10PM

Sounds like rubbish solicitors, did you get a decent one or the cheapest one? They may also be busy and unless you hound them will go to the bottom of the pile. Every house I have ever bought and sold has been done and dusted in 6 weeks but I am a pain in the backside and chased the EA's and Solicitors daily. Keep up the contact.

bee101 · 18 June 2011 at 11:45PM

Well we did 'shop around' and have to admit we went with the cheapest (as we really are on a tight budget). I guess cheapest doesn't necessarily mean better

. Thanks sonastin for your post-it was really helpful! I think our problem is that being first time buyers and not really knowing how it all works, we don't want to seem pushy if things are progressing along what would be considered within a normal timeframe. To me 4 weeks seems like a long time for searches but we were unsure whether we were just being impatient. It has annoyed me though RE the lack of communication from our solicitors and everytime we contact them they talk to us as if we shouldn't be asking for updates. It has been really frustrating but will definitely ring them Monday and demand to know what's happening as KateLiana27 is right-we are paying them for their services so have a right to know the current situation. Everything else has run more or less smoothly; the mortgage was sorted with ease. I should have known though that we were in for a rough ride with these solicitors when they got our address wrong and sent our paperwork to the house down the street and also spelt my partner's surname wrong even though they had the memorandum of agreed sale from the EA's and our client instruction sheet with the correct spelling on it. Moving house is fun

KateLiana27 · 19 June 2011 at 12:10AM

bee101 wrote: »

Well we did 'shop around' and have to admit we went with the cheapest (as we really are on a tight budget). I guess cheapest doesn't necessarily mean better . Thanks sonastin for your post-it was really helpful! I think our problem is that being first time buyers and not really knowing how it all works, we don't want to seem pushy if things are progressing along what would be considered within a normal timeframe. To me 4 weeks seems like a long time for searches but we were unsure whether we were just being impatient. It has annoyed me though RE the lack of communication from our solicitors and everytime we contact them they talk to us as if we shouldn't be asking for updates. It has been really frustrating but will definitely ring them Monday and demand to know what's happening as KateLiana27 is right-we are paying them for their services so have a right to know the current situation. Everything else has run more or less smoothly; the mortgage was sorted with ease. I should have known though that we were in for a rough ride with these solicitors when they got our address wrong and sent our paperwork to the house down the street and also spelt my partner's surname wrong even though they had the memorandum of agreed sale from the EA's and our client instruction sheet with the correct spelling on it. Moving house is fun

Don't feel bad. We went with a mid-priced solicitor's firm (ie not cheap) and are getting frustrated by a similar inertia. Her favourite phrase is "it's in the hands of third parties" - yes I know but you said that two weeks ago so can you CHECK where they're up to please? grr.

I think I'm going to delegate to the other half, who has a less timid nature than me. It sounds like repeated pestering is the only way to get things done.

Taiko · 19 June 2011 at 2:46AM

Sounds normal. Just going through my FTB right now, my solicitor has been great so far though in keeping me updated.

Mrs_Z · 19 June 2011 at 6:12AM

Solicitors seem to have their own time zone, nothing is done by e-mail, it's all by snail mail... With our 2 purchases, both took 3 months from the date offer was accepted to completion and in both cases there was no chain...