When to instruct solicitor

Gadge2011

I found a solicitor I felt I could work with, filled out all the necessary paperwork but held back the searches fee until the survey had been completed.

The solicitor we have instructed is 'no completion no fee', the fee's are all clearly outlined and any questions I have had have been answered extremely quickly.

I definitely recommend finding someone local so that you can pop into the office if needed.

D00gie72

Initially the seller Estate Agents just need to know which solicitor you will be using - they don't necessarily need to do anything (unless you want them too) so I wouldn't worry about incurring costs. You still need to show you are committed.

Noticed your comment that the current tennants have not yet been given notice - have you been given any timescales as to when the property will be vacant? Others on here will know more specifics than me but this could be a problem. (unless you are buying this as a buy to let)

Leeds_House_Mover

Make sure whicehevr solicitor you use is on the panel of approved solicitors with whichever mortgage provider you're planning on using.

And ask the solicitor and also the mortgage provider as we had a case where the solicitor said they were but it turned out their application/membership had expired and it caused real problems. They were fixed but it caused lots of stress and plenty of phone calls.

agrinnall

blinko wrote: »

mr gringe The tenants are going to be given notice when I have had the survey according to the Estate Agent, although in reality I think they will be given notice when the exchange of contracts is about to take place.

This means an absolute minimum of 2 months between exchange and completion - personally I'd be waiting for the tenants to actually leave before exchanging.

Komorebi

As some others have said, you can instruct a solicitor without incurring any cost.

Like you, I was also wary to instruct a solicitor before my valuation as wanted to minimise costs if things were to go awry but actually, at least with Barclays, I wasn't able to complete the mortgage application without giving the bank my solicitor's details.

Although everything else on the application was finished, the application couldn't be sent on to underwriting (and therefore, no valuation could be instructed) until the application had the solicitor details. I'm not sure if this is the case with all banks, but the Barclays mortgage advisor showed me that the systems would not let her proceed to the final stage of the application if these fields were left blank. You may run into the same issue, not sure.

It is only now, having received the mortgage offer that I'm instructing the solicitor to begin, and sending the fees required.

mrginge

blinko wrote: »

mr gringe The tenants are going to be given notice when I have had the survey according to the Estate Agent, although in reality I think they will be given notice when the exchange of contracts is about to take place.

Oh dear.
I won't go into why this is a bad idea, there's plenty of other threads around to explain.

blinko

Thanks guys oh I don't intend to exchange contracts without the house being vacant!! What is the usual process when tenents are in place, does the landlord give them notice upon my completion of survey or wait till prior to exchange of contracts and then ask them to leave, house Is vacant then exchange

mrginge

blinko wrote: »

Thanks guys oh I don't intend to exchange contracts without the house being vacant!! What is the usual process when tenents are in place, does the landlord give them notice upon my completion of survey or wait till prior to exchange of contracts and then ask them to leave, house Is vacant then exchange

Well normal process is that the tenants are gone before the house goes on the market.

Personally i'm in the 'spend no money till the tenants have gone' camp. Other people are comfortable taking the risk. You need to understand that the EA will tell you that things are 'normal' in an effort to get you to just do what they want.

I like to think of it as going to buy a car and the guy says ok, but you need to insure it and have it inspected straight away and his mate will be driving it around for the next two months.

agrinnall

blinko wrote: »

Thanks guys oh I don't intend to exchange contracts without the house being vacant!! What is the usual process when tenents are in place, does the landlord give them notice upon my completion of survey or wait till prior to exchange of contracts and then ask them to leave, house Is vacant then exchange

Then why do you think notice won't be given until exchange is about to take place? Mrginge's hope that a property won't even be advertised until it is vacant may be a bit optimistic, but exchanging before the tenants have gone seems a risk too far.

Slayerx

Blinko please check with the YBS before instructing solicitors as they need to be on the panel to avoid any delays.