Solicitors timescales- reasonable?

pickles13

We recently instructed a solicitor to assist with buying a house. We went into the office on Thursday 2nd April to prove ID and deposit origins, and to pay them £350 upfront. They told me that the next stage was searches and that these could take 2 weeks (she was basically saying 'don't contact us to chase us for the next 2 weeks'). Today, I have checked our online account which shows every stage of the process and whether that particular thing has been done and next to 'Searches applied for" there is a 'No'. Surely after a week these should have at least have been applied for. Is this a usual timescale or am I just impatient?!

G_M

Quite likely they are waiting for the draft contract from the vendors first.

What stage is that on the online account?

pickles13

G_M wrote: »

Quite likely they are waiting for the draft contract from the vendors first.

What stage is that on the online account?

Thats a No too. The only things that look completed are the ID and security checks.

kingstreet

Searches can't be requested by purchaser's solicitor until draft contract is received from vendor's solicitor. It contains a plan of the property needed for a local search.

Has the selling agent issued a Memorandum Of Sale? Has the chain fully formed?

Offer agreed
Solicitors instructed
Sales memorandum issued by estate agent
Chain fully forms
Purchaser applies for mortgage
Vendor's solicitor prepares and issues draft contract to purchaser's solicitor
Vendor completes seller's enquiry forms and returns to their solicitor
Valuation/survey carried out
Purchaser pays their solicitor for searches
Searches requested by purchaser's solicitor
Renegotiation of price due to survey findings - if required
Mortgage offer issued
Purchaser's solicitor receives seller's enquiry forms and raises any enquiries with vendor's solicitor
Searches returned to purchaser's solicitor
Responses to enquiries from vendor's solicitor to purchaser's solicitor
Purchaser visits solicitor to go through paperwork, hand over ID and deposit
Completion date agreed between all parties
Contracts exchanged
Purchaser's solicitor sends purchase funds to vendor's solicitor
Completion takes place
Vendor's solicitor receives purchase funds and authorises key release.

One or two may come in a slightly different order, but in some cases one stage can't happen until an earlier on triggers it.

rosie383

I think the local area will dictate how long the searches take. Some posters have mentioned a wait of many weeks. We are in Luton and have had some within the first week and now the local one this last week. So two weeks in total.

rosie383

Thanks for that list Kingstreet. Very clear and helpful.

pickles13

kingstreet wrote: »

Searches can't be requested by purchaser's solicitor until draft contract is received from vendor's solicitor. It contains a plan of the property needed for a local search.

Has the selling agent issued a Memorandum Of Sale? Has the chain fully formed?

Offer agreed
Solicitors instructed
Sales memorandum issued by estate agent
Chain fully forms
Purchaser applies for mortgage
Vendor's solicitor prepares and issues draft contract to purchaser's solicitor
Vendor completes seller's enquiry forms and returns to their solicitor
Valuation/survey carried out
Purchaser pays their solicitor for searches
Searches requested by purchaser's solicitor
Renegotiation of price due to survey findings - if required
Mortgage offer issued
Purchaser's solicitor receives seller's enquiry forms and raises any enquiries with vendor's solicitor
Searches returned to purchaser's solicitor
Responses to enquiries from vendor's solicitor to purchaser's solicitor
Purchaser visits solicitor to go through paperwork, hand over ID and deposit
Completion date agreed between all parties
Contracts exchanged
Purchaser's solicitor sends purchase funds to vendor's solicitor
Completion takes place
Vendor's solicitor receives purchase funds and authorises key release.

One or two may come in a slightly different order, but in some cases one stage can't happen until an earlier on triggers it.

Thank you. I think that the online list from our solicitor is in a different order so perhaps its a bit more random than in order. Yes chain is complete, sales memo. issued by EA, surveys (both mine and the vendors on her new property) complete, and I have paid for surveys. Perhaps it is just the draft they are waiting for then as the vendor called us the other day to ask if we wanted anything else other than the things we had already agreed, to be left in the property as she wanted to list everything for her solicitor.

Thanks again.

ethank

We had one of the online tools you mentioned. Frankly it was hardly ever updated by the solicitor!

Thrugelmir

pickles13 wrote: »

Thank you. I think that the online list from our solicitor is in a different order so perhaps its a bit more random than in order. Yes chain is complete, sales memo. issued by EA, surveys (both mine and the vendors on her new property) complete, and I have paid for surveys. Perhaps it is just the draft they are waiting for then as the vendor called us the other day to ask if we wanted anything else other than the things we had already agreed, to be left in the property as she wanted to list everything for her solicitor.

Thanks again.

No mortgage offer received as yet?