How long does it take from offer accepted to completion-update!

bee101

Hi,

Quick update. So we tried contacting our solicitors on Monday. No response so left an email explaining that we were unhappy with the lack of communication and wanted to know exactly what was happening and what the next step was. Had a phonecall from the estate agents later that day saying that they have been chasing our solicitor as they are worried about how long it has been taking!!! Highly embarrassed! Had a response from the solicitors yesterday and surprise surprise the search results are now back! However, they have said that they have been chasing the vendor's solicitor for answers to their queries and were finding it difficult to get responses from them. Find that hard to believe from what the estate agent was telling us (i.e our side is the hold up). Ah well, atleast things are moving along now



My original post:
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?).

megzmam

from start to finish our house buying and selling process took exactly 12 weeks, and i don't mind admitting they felt like the longest 12 weeks of our lives!
it didn't help that we started process in march and had loads of bank holidays and easter breaks to contend with in april and may which i think slowed things a bit too. we were only in a very small chain and we did think things would've been a lot quicker than they were and we had to do an awful lot of the chasing of solicitors etc too as whenever we e-mailled or rang you could never get an immediate response from anyone.
hope the ball starts rolling a little faster for you soon and it isn't long before you're in your new home x

iwb100

Bee101, can I ask are you using a local solicitors firm or one of the big conveyancing companies (phone/online types)?

laural_2

We had an offer accepted on the 20th April. Then the sellers went away for 2 weeks!! Exchanged about 2 weeks ago and we complete next Friday as this was date we both wanted. So would have taken about 10 weeks. We could have done it in half the time if we were in a rush. Good luck with your new purchase!! x

mizzbiz

We recently bought this house in 8 weeks. Offer accepted 8th Decmber, moved in 28th Jan. We delayed this one slightly for personal reasons, would have been around 14th to move in if we hadn't. That was no chain either side and a very motivated seller though!

Place we are currently selling, offer accepted 28th April, completion to be 1st July as exchanging today (fingers crossed x). So that's approx 9 weeks, again no chain either side, a cash buyer and a motivated seller (us)!

I think 12 weeks is the norm when there are chains and mortgages involved. We were surprised at how long it takes to buy and sell in cash with no chain. On the downside with this sale is that it is a leasehold property and our managing agents have not only ripped us off big style for answers to questions but they also dragged the process out. The delay is down to them - had it been freehold we would have been done about three to four weeks ago.

Riq

Ours took 10 weeks but that was due to wanting to get builders round and Santander being stupidly slow unless we rang them constantly.

But it was worth the hassle as they had a good deal. The best deal to be honest.

Without builders and the bank holiday I'd say we could have done it in 6 weeks.

The vendor had been told we would complete in 28days, but not once did I say that as it's just not true.

Estate Agent in being a liar shocker.

My girlfriend is an estate agent and she was furious about the 28days thing because it reinforcing the stereotype of estate agents. And although I may be bias, she is honest.

pmlindyloo

iwb100 wrote: »

Bee101, can I ask are you using a local solicitors firm or one of the big conveyancing companies (phone/online types)?

Although I understand where you are coming from (I think! ) I am now more convinced than ever that whether your conveyancer is an online one or a local one doesn't make much of a difference.

The truth is that both types can be brilliant or rubbish.

Let me give you an example.

We are currently buying our rented property. We are cash buyers. There is no chain. There is no estate agent. We are using an online solicitor and the vendor (landlord) is using his local high street branch. His solicitors (up to now) have been hopeless - full of excuses as to why papers are not sent etc etc. Ours have been brilliant.

But................... Ours have been 'brilliant' because I hassle them every day (online 'chat' facility which gets a reply within 24 hours).
They tell me exactly what is happening and what is needed. This way we have been able to urge our vendors to hassle their solicitors and it is working.

I am convinced that if you do not keep nagging any solicitor your 'case' may be kept at the bottom of the pile and proceedings may be very slow.

Personally I prefer to use an online solicitor which provides me with the facility to allow me almost instant communication. I do not have the patience to deal with phone calls and 'sorry, he/she's not in the office, I'll get back to you.'

Just my opinion!

bee101

Thanks everyone for your replies. One of the posts above asked if I was using a local solicitor or an online one. We went with a local one as I had friends who used online firms and advised me against it. Although one of my work colleagues is also buying a house at the moment and is using an online firm and she said they have been contacting her every 2 days with updates.

Things seem to be looking up now though since we expressed our concerns to the solicitor at the start of the week. Things have miraculously started moving. We have now had the search results through in the post and also the contract which they want us to sign in readiness. Think the only thing they are waiting for are replies to enquires from the seller's solicitors but I mentioned this to the estate agent this week and they have contacted the sellers who have said that our solicitors will get the replies they need very shortly. So I am a lot less stressed now. Although I am a bit jealous of my friend right now as she found a house at the same time as we did and her and her husband completed today (theirs is a new build though).

Thanks again everyone for your comments.

akrot1

i would defintiely agree that both abuyer and seller need to be constantly nagging their solicitors to push them. It does help if you know what the solicitr should be doing so you can ask the right questions.

Time from offer accepted does depend a lot on the solicoitrs but also on 3rd parties like mortgage lender, searches and if leasehold the management company and freeholder.

Good luck!

laural_2

I think that is why mine convenyancing had no hold up. I phoned nearly everyday and my mortgage broker would chase as well. I bet they will be glad when I complete next week haha. x

FireWyrm

I view solicitors somewhat as children who get easily distracted. Perhaps I'm just unlucky, but the last one I had anything to do with was a proven liar, excuses ranged from 'waiting for the other solicitor' to paperwork lost in the post if you can believe that. In the end, my vendor and I exchanged personal phone numbers and just rang each other when with each solicitors excuses. Also, a weekly "what are you up to" phone call helps. Take it from me though, they tend to take the words "incompetant" and "complaint" personally, but it does seem to get them moving with a will.

I'm now a buyer and this new solicitor seems to know what he's doing even if he is laconic beyond belief, at least I havnt caught him in a lie yet. I did manage to get my first sale through in under 4 weeks but that was due to both the vendor and I riding our respective people. I swear though that they drag it out, a straight sale shouldn't take all that long, there isn't much paperwork...most of the time is taken waiting for the rest ofmthe chain to be ready as everyone has to go on the same day.