Pressure from agents to complete

ACG

The quickest i have ever done is around 23 days from application to picking up the keys.

I aim for around 6-8 weeks all being well. But there are times it can drag out into months.

I would say your doing ok on time, not fantastic but certainly not slow - especially considering there has been xmas/new year.

I hate EA for this practice. They give my clients grief, my clients give me grief so now i just tell my clients i will deal with the agents and the agents leave me alone so long as i keep them updated every week or 2.

The estate agents are just applying pressure so they get paid sooner, tell them to FO and you will give your notice in when your good and ready not when they are.

ky822000

As you say, if you complete on the sale before your notice period ends it is YOUR 'money down the drain'. I know lots of people who prefer to keep a rental property for a week or two while moving into a new house.

If you can afford it, it is infinitely preferable (imo) to be able to move in your own time and sort out both properties to your satisfaction than waiting with a removal van on the doorstep for the money to be exchanged and keys to become available.

I would stress this to the EA; confirm you are keen to move but giving notice on the rental property is not a critical step in the process!

G_M

1) ignore the agents
2) decide what gap you want between Exchange and Completion and tell your solicitor (if you have one), or negotiate the gap direct with the seller or his solicitor if you don't.
3) exchange when you and your solicitor are ready and not before
4) give notice on your rental when you exchange and not before
5) Complete on the date agreed in 2) above
6) move in on, or after, the date you Complete, unless the seller stupidly agrees to give you the keys earlier

MSaxp

Yes, of course. My instructions to the solicitor has been for 1-2 weeks of overlap, so everything happens in an organised way.

Both solicitors have apparently been off for almost 2 weeks, so I guess that's where any delay is. Not sure about the timescales of the searches but it's all in the solicitors hands.

Thank you all for the advice. I doubt the sellers would pull out because of our 1 month notice but we'll see. In the end, they are not part of a chain, so if they want to move out, they can.

gazfocus

just a thought...is your current rental house with the same EA as the house you're buying? I was just wondering if they're trying to put pressure on you so they can start marketing the rental house again.

Kynthia

You've clearly got a good grasp of the situation so ignore the EA. They work for the sellers and themselves and are not looking out for you. If your solicitor says you aren't ready to exchange then there's nothing you can do, and you are very right not to give notice beforehand. Personally I would ring the EA once a week with an update on the progress, perhaps having also spoken to your solicitor first. Then if they pressure you or chase you, tell them that you don't want to hear from them unless they have new information.

AdrianC

MSaxp wrote: »

No, actually the agents keep pestering us for when we will move in as the vendors are in a hurry to move out.

This is the important bit... The EA is just passing on the hassle they're getting from the vendor. They're quite possibly even filtering it down a bit.

If there's genuinely no delay with you, then don't let it get to you. Treat the EA like a human, and they'll probably just absorb a bit more of the hassle.

Another vote, too, for don't give your notice in. It could still fall through yet. Maybe the vendor's trying to hurry it in the hope that some of the searches get skipped...? B'sides, whether you've given your notice or not doesn't affect your completion date. Sure, you might pay rent on an empty place for a week or two after completion, but that wouldn't be the end of the world, would it?

Yorkie1

Sounds as though the searches etc haven't yet been finished, particularly with solicitors (and councils etc) on leave for half of the time since your offer was accepted.

Frankly it's far too early for indignant pressure to be put on you and the sellers need to wind their neck in. Be advised by your solicitor, and don't give notice until you've exchanged. Aim to exchange, if possible, a couple of days before the end of a tenancy period, then immediately give notice (ensuring it's received / served by the end of the tenancy period - two working days if sent by first class post), and have your completion date halfway through the final rental period. That gives you a couple of weeks to do stuff to the new house, move, and clean the old house.

ethank

I think keeping the communication up helps to prevent this kind of thing. Everytime I got an update - I updated our EA, Solicitor, and the Sales Exec at the development we bought at. This helped to prevent the number of stressful calls (although we still had a couple!)

Ivana_Tinkle

AdrianC wrote: »

This is the important bit... The EA is just passing on the hassle they're getting from the vendor. They're quite possibly even filtering it down a bit.

You'd think so, but that's not necessarily the case. It's equally possible the agent has their own agenda and the vendor is oblivious to all this.