Countrywide Conveyancing/HSBC - avoid like the plague if you want to complete

martin2345uk

Just had email confirmation from our chosen solicitor that they are CQS accredited (yay) BUT...

Their email goes on to say:

We have set fees as we are part of Countrywide’s panel and they also require an environmental search as a condition of their mortgage offer.

So doubly confused!

We still have to go through Countrywide?? :-((

Richard_Webster

Just had email confirmation from our chosen solicitor that they are CQS accredited (yay) BUT...

Their email goes on to say:

Quote:
We have set fees as we are part of Countrywide’s panel and they also require an environmental search as a condition of their mortgage offer.
So doubly confused!

We still have to go through Countrywide?? :-((

Your solicitor is evidently one of the 39 in England/Wales that could deal with HSBC cases before the panel widened to include CQS accredited practices. If you are happy wit he solicitor there shouldn't be a problem. There are a number of perfectly good fir,ms on that list of 39.

Environmental Search costs £40-50 or so and in the grand scheme of things is no big deal. Depending on the locality etc there may be very good reasons for doing it regardless of what HSBC says.

Rachelred_2

We had the first appointment with our HSBC advisor, who was very good, and got a mortgage in principle. We made an offer on a property and tried to get another appointment to apply formally and were told it was 10 days before we could see them!

The delay gave me time to Google and I found this thread. And many others on different sites about the same issues. I called our local building society - one of the ones that only lends in the area it's named after. They were brilliant. We had an appointment the next day and the mortgage application handed to us there and then. The rates they offered were actually better too! The application was in within 3 days of the first phonecall!

I went to a local solicitors and they're handling the conveyancing. It's all sorted and we'd still be waiting to see the HSBC!

It's really worth checking out local options. They are also very used to dealing with each other and have an established working relationship.

LittleDaisy

We decided to have Countrywide as our Solicitors through Beresford Adams and wondered if someone could give us a bit of advice.

We have sent back our signed Transfer Documents and our Contract Documents to Countrywide and they confirmed that they have been received but when I enquired how far away from Completion are we, I was told 6 to 8 weeks. We are already behind as mysteriously our initial pack with questions on the property, proof of ID etc went missing for just over a week.

There is no chain. We were told that the buyer already had his mortgage virtually in place and we are not buying another property or applying for a mortgage.

We don't understand what the hold up could be and we are now in week number 5 and as we were told that the whole process from start to finish could take 6 to 8 weeks we are not sure what to think. Have we been advised wrongly?

Yorkie1

Do you mean 6-8 weeks from offer to completion?

Very ambitious for most purchases. 8-12 weeks is far more usual.

Thrugelmir

LittleDaisy wrote: »

There is no chain. We were told that the buyer already had his mortgage virtually in place

No such thing as a virtual mortgage. As until the buyer makes a full mortgage application then there's no certainty as to the outcome.

LittleDaisy

Just thought that I would update on my initial comment.

Buyer has mortgage in place. I received an apology from the solicitors this morning for the incorrect information given and the way it was given. I have been assured that everything will move quickly from now on and that our case is a straightforward one with no hold ups.

So for anyone out there in the same situation, it is possible to sell your property in 6 and 8 weeks. I sold my first house, complete with chain either side and mortgage arrangements, in six weeks in 1989.

Regards
Happy Little Daisy

SolemnSolitary

We are FTBs and using CountryWide. The Vendors are also using CountryWide and are buying by their Vendors aren't so we have the shortest chain possible

Right now we are waiting equires. Everything has been sent off to countrywide. Mortage stuff completly, everything signed. One of the enquires i know they are waiting on is from the local authority, the Tree Preservation Order. Which they requested on the 17/06/2013. So that is taking its time.

Things moved very quickly in the beginning but the last two weeks havent shown much of any progress. :9

hat13trick

baggage55 wrote: »

We are trying to exchange on the sale of our house to a couple who have made the big mistake of taking out a mortgage through HSBC. We have just three houses in the chain, our purchasers are in rented and our sellers are moving to an empty property. We have solicitors, our purchasers have solicitors, our sellers have solicitors and our purchasers mortage provider, HSBC, for reasons known only to them, have appointed Countrywide Conveyancing to act for them. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. CC want every box ticked several times over, they want two days to turn round any piece of information, they insist on 11 working days between exchange (if only we could get that far) and completion. We agreed the sale in the first week in January, and the people selling to us had already got some way with their purchase as our original buyer pulled out just before Christmas. As far as all parties in the chain are concerned we have been ready to exchange for nearly 3 weeks but still CC manage to find yet more questions that need an answer. Meanwhile our purchasers have deposited a hefty deposit with their solicitors which is no longer in their own bank account. PLEASE TELL ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO IS THINKING OF TAKING OUT A MORTGAGE TO AVOID HSBC AT ALL COSTS - if they ever want to actually move into the property they find. I have moved house many times during my long life, this has been the longest and most stressful process I have ever experienced. The solicitors on all sides are totally exasperated by CC's involvement and cannot understand what HSBC are trying to achieve. BUYER BEWARE is the saying here.

We are currently in a chain of only 3 people and the first time buyers are at the bottom of the chain. They were advised they had to use countrywide conveyancing by Dixons estate agents. However I believe their Mortgage will be through Halifax.. Again We are ready and our buyer is ready to exchange and complete. But again Countrywide are insisting to have 10 days wait between exchange and completion. As a result we will have to pay another months council tax! They are useless. My sister recently moved and used them, it took from July 2012 to Feb 2013 to move from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bed flat a mere 4 mile away from each other. On the feedback she told them they were egregious and would never use or recommend them to anyone again! Looks like another ruddy Council tax bill more costs!!

hat13trick

Advise anyone NOT TO USE COUNTRYWIDE CONVEYANCING!!! I believe you don't have to use them, you can get your own Solicitor