Is SIX months and still no completion date-is this too long ?

tadgh_99

If I am being played by the vendor and their agent then so be it but I would just prefer to know where I stand.

If you leave it to third parties your solicitors or EA then you'll just be waiting for vague answers (as you've already stated). By speaking to the vendors directly, you should get a good feel as to whether they are playing you or not. Ask them the questions. If they give reasonable and accurate answers as to what they need to do, chances are they aren't playing you and there is a genuine hold up.

Are there any questions I should be asking of my solicitor in my position that I should feel entitled to have answered after six months or is it conceivable that this could drag on for longer ?

Another reason to speak with the vendor to try and find out what the situation is. That way you can plan the questions you think you should have asked before. Otherwise you could just be asking questions that have no relevance to your particular transaction.

What's the worst that can happen? You find out that it could take an age to sort out? At least you'd know where you stand. If the vendors are playing you then you can move on and let them play someone else.

It's a tenanted property so each month you wait will be a rental income you're not getting. You could have invested elsewhere.

If you're still not keen on speaking to the vendors directly, are there any local shop keepers (like a newsagents or similar)? They always tend to know what's going on in a community.

Richard_Webster

Generally it is worth short circuiting the agents etc and talking to the sellers direct.

In this case the delay is quite likely to be to do with the complexities of the probate process. There are all kinds of things that could be holding it up. Generally the more assets the estate has the longer it takes. A HMRC form has to be completed giving full details of the assets and their values. So a valuation of each asset (bank account, insurance/pension policy, house and other land, shares, etc, etc) at the date of death has to be obtained. If one of the asset holders is dragging its feet in replying this could be the reason.

Once the HMRC form is submitted there may be queries on it and this can sometimes hold things up - or the probate registry itself could have a backlog.

The difficulty is that because this is all strange to the average person, the sellers could simply say that it is with their solicitors and they don't know what the delay is. So it is quite possible that they will not be that helpful - but you can still press them to get the information from their solicitors and some idea of what remains to be done and how long it is likely to take.

spiritus

Update:


I emailed the estate agent last weekend asking them to respond to an earlier email I had sent with a number of questions regarding progress of the sale.


I also explained to them that I wanted them to contact me in writing (via email) in future as it would avoid any misunderstandings.


Lo' and behold-24 hours later I get a reply from them but not by email but a phone call. I recognised the number when they tried to ring and chose not to answer it.


I listened to the voice mail later and they were telling me that there had been a "breakthrough" in the sale of the property and asked me to call back.


I emailed them back explaining my reasons for preferring communication to be in writing and asked them to advise me as to the current status of the sale in writing again.


That was 4/5 days ago and they haven't got back to me.


It seems that whenever I express frustration at the time it is taking they then call me to tell me that there has been a "breakthrough" or a "major development" and matters should be concluded within weeks but alas they have done that too many times for me to believe them anymore.


They seem to dangle a carrot in front of me to buy some extra time.


At the weekend I will write direct to the vendor and hope I can establish a more direct channel of communication.


My hopes are starting to fade though

tadgh_99

spiritus,

It looks as though you're still in the same position as before. You're still not clear as to what the hold up is (which is what you wanted to avoid).

Why write to them? Seems a very formal approach. Why not just pop round (unless they are a fair distance away) and have a light hearted chat with them? Maybe offer some assistance to resolve what is every causing the hold up.

The vendors could ignore a letter (leaving you in the same position). Just pop over and have a chat with them. What's the worst that could happen?

spiritus

tadgh_99 wrote: »

spiritus,

It looks as though you're still in the same position as before. You're still not clear as to what the hold up is (which is what you wanted to avoid).

Why write to them? Seems a very formal approach. Why not just pop round (unless they are a fair distance away) and have a light hearted chat with them? Maybe offer some assistance to resolve what is every causing the hold up.

The vendors could ignore a letter (leaving you in the same position). Just pop over and have a chat with them. What's the worst that could happen?

Sadly the vendor lives hundreds of miles away

spiritus

spiritus wrote: »

Sadly the vendor lives hundreds of miles away

Update:


I wrote to the vendor and receive a response yesterday via a phone call.


She was delighted to hear from me as she has been suffering from the same frustration that we have in the ongoing delays to the process.


In fact, she told me she was considering making an official complaint about the estate agent as they had also been stringing her along telling her that the completion was only a few weeks away............this was in August and again in Autumn !!


Our respective solicitors are not much better.


Probate was granted some months ago and things are still as ambiguous as they were in June 2014.


The estate agent told me on the 18th December that the vendor's solicitor is waiting for some tree order to be delivered (??) and the agent would chase them up that day.


I heard nothing back and emailed the agent in the New Year who failed to acknowledge their commitment to chase them on the 18th December and told me they can only update me when they have any news. Isn't it their job to chase these things up or am I being unreasonable ??


Are we really at the mercy of faceless solicitors who will take as long as they feel like or can we do anything about it ?


I presume the vendor cannot dismiss the estate agent at this late stage so what leverage do we have ?

Thrugelmir

spiritus wrote: »

I presume the vendor cannot dismiss the estate agent at this late stage so what leverage do we have ?

Sacking the EA makes no iota of difference. As it's not them that is causing delay.

spiritus

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Sacking the EA makes no iota of difference. As it's not them that is causing delay.

I understand but does the EA have a responsibility to chase the solicitor up or should that be down solely to the vendor ?

Tim_Bisley

At this point it's not really the estate agent's job to do anything. They can chase things up, but ultimately it's the solicitors who are doing the work. You are paying them to work for you - don't let them mess you about. Tell them what you want and when you want it done by!

spiritus

Tim_Bisley wrote: »

At this point it's not really the estate agent's job to do anything. They can chase things up, but ultimately it's the solicitors who are doing the work. You are paying them to work for you - don't let them mess you about. Tell them what you want and when you want it done by!

Ok but if the vendor contacts her solicitor and informs them she wants everything to be completed within one month from today and the solicitor continues with their own pace then what ?


Likewise with my own solicitor.