Can I talk directly to the seller

R997

We're in the process of buying a house. It's 150 miles from where we live now, and we're trying to arrange a completion date. We're pretty flexible within reason, and the seller seems to be too. We'd been working to a mid-August date, but only came to light a couple of days ago that the seller was working to a mid-June date. We're using the same firm of solicitors, as apparently this would help with communication(!!), although that doesn't seem to have worked. The two solicitors within the firm simply hadn't communicated internally what the expected dates were, and we only found out by accident through the EA.

Its not the end of the world. If it came to it we'd complete in June and just take the financial hit of paying in two places for a couple of months. Certainly don't want to loose the property.

It's taking ages to sort this out, and delay appears to be the glacial pace of the solicitor. We've got family living in the same town as the seller, so would be really easy to pop an email address or phone number though the door. I could problably even find them on FB if I tried. Am I allowed to do this? I'm sure it would take about two minutes of conversation to sort this, and I don't trust the solicitor to convey either our wishes, or the sellers, reliably.

Can I just have a chat with the seller?

nidO

You can, the seller may or may not appreciate it though depending on how indirectly they want to be involved in the transaction, as you're supposed to have your respective solicitors and the EA to be handling communications.

That said, if they're reasonable people wanting to get their house sold and recognise that there seems to be a holdup with the solicitors that you can jointly solve much easier, I wouldn't expect them to have a problem with you doing so.

HouseBuyer77

The EA will have their contact details. Ask the EA to put you in touch. They'll need to ask the seller that it's ok to pass on their details but I doubt they'd have a problem as talking directly is often the quickest way to sort things out.

kingstreet

Is everything in place for the solicitors to start discussing completion dates?

Most won't, until all the enquiries are resolved and they have signed contracts.

Then they discuss potential completion dates as they are in a position to exchange contracts.

headachesrus

No reason why you can't contact them direct, it will then be their choice if they want to communicate.

You need to check with sols what is outstanding. If something is outstanding it's pointless talking about completion dates.

R997

I might hold off for a while and see what happens, but I think direct communication might be the easiest option. They seem very reasonable and pragmatic people, and so are we. I can't see it being a problem personally.

We're waiting on the solicitor to send us the mortgage deed, which again they're dragging their heels on, then we're good to go. We know they have it. We received our copy over two weeks ago.

Appreciate that we're not in a position to specify exact dates. Don't even need an exact date, but have repeatedly asked the solictor to ensure that we're aiming for roughly the same time, and been told we definitely are. Doens't instil a lot of faith.

move2k15

I asked EA to pass on my contact details to the seller and then that way it was his choice rather than approaching the address directly and him feeling 'cornered'. I got an email within a few hours and we were able to thrash out in about 1 hour what would have taken my solcitor at least a week to discuss by going back and forward between me, the seller's solicitor and the seller and back again.

Would definitely recommend it. Now exchanged and seller has sent me a lovely email explaining a few bits and bobs about the house, garden and local area!

dragonsoup

move2k15 wrote: »

I asked EA to pass on my contact details to the seller and then that way it was his choice rather than approaching the address directly and him feeling 'cornered'. I got an email within a few hours and we were able to thrash out in about 1 hour what would have taken my solcitor at least a week to discuss by going back and forward between me, the seller's solicitor and the seller and back again.

Would definitely recommend it. Now exchanged and seller has sent me a lovely email explaining a few bits and bobs about the house, garden and local area!

Yes I did the same and we've had a few phone conversations too. It's nice as you have the chance to develop a bit of a personal relationship which ( I hope) makes it harder for either party to withdraw on a whim as you are not just an anonymous "purchaser" or "vendor". It's also a good way of ganging up on the solictors as they can't so easily palm you off with delaying tactics if you know that information has been requested and responded to!

clarky_cat

I'm in he process of buying a house and have been contacting the seller via phone and text. On the 2nd viewing (after offer had been accepted) we exchanged numbers.

DaftyDuck

I use a "burner" phone when buying and selling. Just a cheap SIM in some old phone, so I can chuck it soon after the business is concluded. I would be wary that, if things take a worse turn, or whatever, you might find they call six months later ....".... be passing at 2am, we'll just pop in an use our loo, won't be a trouble..."

But, I normally communicate a bit with buyer or seller at the late stage, offering paints and tiles to leave, whatever. Not yet caused a problem when they are sane and bright. I have chosen, on other occasions, to direct all communication through the estate agent!

G_M

As an aside, it is frequently recommended that buyers & sellers do not use the same firm of solicitors.

Certainly using the same solicitor would be a conflict of interest, and prohibited. Using two different solicitors from the same firm may cause a conflict eg if a dispute arises will they be as agessive in arguing your case against a colleague. For this reason Law Society rules require them to have a 'firewall' in place such that they don't work together. That way they can properly represent the best interests of their individual clients.

This kind of negates your belief that communication would be quicker and easier by keeping it all in one firm.