Chasing rest of chain

SkintMonkey

Hello
We are in the process of selling and buying....we instructed our solicitors at the end of February and we think all is running smoothly as we've been filling out and signing various forms, our homebuyers/mortgage valuation has been done along with our landsearch etc...The guy buying from us (bottom of chain) has been very organised and he is quite ahead of the game, he wants to let the house out once he's got his hands on it and has said he is keen to move quickly.

My worry is the rest of the chain, I'm not sure how quickly, if at all, they are moving. The people selling to us are buying from a couple who have already vacated the property, so one would hope things would be relatively straightforward.

Can I ask the solicitor (or estate agent maybe) to give everyone a bit of a kick to move things on. I don't want to put pressure on people, but I suppose I want reassurance that they are progressing as much as they can etc. We are really eager to have dates etc (for work mainly so we can book time off) and to move in ASAP.

Are we mad, should we just chill out a bit?

back2square1

You're definitely not mad, and in these situations a kick up the !!!! can be needed. Obviously not literally!!!
My personal opinion is that solicitors and EA's are all earning from you sellers and buyers. You are all paying exceptional amounts of money so you should have every right to chase up the progress.
Get on the telephone now and ask what is happening!!!! If everyone in the chain also chases the progress then I am sure it will have an even better impact.

The only thing that does take time is the searches, Land Registry etc but other than that there does not have to be any other delays.

SkintMonkey

back2square1 wrote: »

You're definitely not mad, and in these situations a kick up the !!!! can be needed. Obviously not literally!!!
My personal opinion is that solicitors and EA's are all earning from you sellers and buyers. You are all paying exceptional amounts of money so you should have every right to chase up the progress.
Get on the telephone now and ask what is happening!!!! If everyone in the chain also chases the progress then I am sure it will have an even better impact.

The only thing that does take time is the searches, Land Registry etc but other than that there does not have to be any other delays.

Thanks. Since we accepted the offer on our house we have virutally heard diddly squat from the agents we are selling with, so will chase them up. Should be relatively easy for them as the people we are buying from are buying with the estate agents we are selling with - if you get my drift...

lush_walrus

Normal protocal is the EA you are selling/buying through chases up and down the chain (one position either side). The next EA then chases the next and so on till all of the chain are ready or pressured into being ready.

Speak to your EA, generally they do it by default, but incase you have a sleepy one (quite rare as they want it all over and finished too), give them a call and ask them to get chasing.

SkintMonkey

lush_walrus wrote: »

Normal protocal is the EA you are selling/buying through chases up and down the chain (one position either side). The next EA then chases the next and so on till all of the chain are ready or pressured into being ready.

Speak to your EA, generally they do it by default, but incase you have a sleepy one (quite rare as they want it all over and finished too), give them a call and ask them to get chasing.

Will do, definately..

Doozergirl

Do not let your buyer dictate when everyone moves. Out of everyone, he should be the most flexible as he is not even moving in!

It would be fair to ask the EAs up the chain if everything is running smoothly above and whether they have had a survey carried out yet. I don't think a chain of four is relatively straightforward at all and 'pressure' at this stage I think is inappropriate unless they are still missing a survey.

SkintMonkey

I decided to email my estate agents and I've just recievd this prompt reply:

Your buyer has been sent his contract for signature and they are
awaiting his deposit monies so he is almost ready. The people you are buying
from at the top of the chain, the draft contract was only sent out last week
and searches have just been applied for so they are a couple of weeks
behind.

We will be chasing this again next week and we will give you another update.

Well at least they are on the case...

back2square1

That's great that you got a prompt reply from EA. I hope this has reduced some of your stress now you know exactly what stage everything is at. I totally agree with Doozergirl the person at bottom of chain cannot dictate to you when they need to move in by.

In my experience it is something you all agree on taking into consideration everyones circumstances ie. someone could be going on holiday.

If I was you though, next Wednesday if you have not heard anything from EA send them another email. But like I said and the EA has mentioned searches take weeks and there is nothing you can do to speed it along. Lets just hope your buyer understands that.

Mrs_Optimist

In my experience our EA has done diddly squat to move the process along since we accepted an offer from a FTB at the beginning of January. I have had to persistently harass them and they don't even return my calls now. We are hoping to exchange today but the delays along the way (our FTB had no idea what was involved and in spite of our EA telling me that they were keeping on top of things they didn't bother). I luckily obtained the mobile no of our buyer and we are in constant contact with each other.

I have to say that although our EA was very good in getting our house on the market and getting the viewings in (and of course securing a buyer for us quickly) their after-sale agreed handling has been extremely poor. I have no doubt that they will not hang around getting their bill in when we eventually complete but I am instructng my solicitor NOT to pay it, to had it to me and I will leave it as long as possible for them to receive their payment. Lets see how quickly they chase THAT up. ! At least I will earn some interest on that money whilst they wait.

Therefore chase, chase and chase some more. YOU are paying the bill, make sure that everyone earns the money you are paying them.

silvercar

We got so exsasperated with our house chain we used the internet to track down our buyer's buyer and visited them to sort out the problems. Had we not done that the chain would have probably collapsed.