Stuck between my solicitor and estate agent

SuzieSue

jatinmistry_uk wrote: »

No I cannot speak to the vendor as estate agent has said they recently have gone through personl medical issues and are very sensitive at the moment.

Ok, so you can use this as an excuse to chase your solicitor along - you don't want to cause them any more unnecessary stress.

TiddlyPom

I would be more inclined to believe the solicitor. The estate agent has an incentive to push things so their commission falls within certain timescales. I remember one flat I was buying where the estate agent telephoned to say the vendor was furious that we hadn't exchanged yet and was threatening to pull out. Luckily I had the vendors number and telephoned them direct and they had said nothing of the sort and were aware they were the ones holding things up.
It's going to be a pain, but it sounds like you are going to have to be in very close contact with your solicitor and estate agent, constantly checking that things are happening within a reasonable timescale. Something you could do without having to do on top of the general stress of purchasing and moving. Good luck.

stator

Ask your solicitor for a copy of all letters that have been sent and received. It should be obvious from the dates who is the problem!

headachesrus

Ring your solicitor. Ask him what is outstanding and a realistic exchange date. Nothing to do with the agent.

DRP

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

One thing to realise is the EA doesn't really take any part in the conveyancy process. They may be a contact point to talk to the vendor when you need to get hold of certain documentation but it's mostly solicitor to solicitor.

The vendor's solicitor is unlikely to talk to you however. So this leaves you with talking to the EA or the vendor themselves. If things are getting a little strained talking to the vendor may be a bad move, but on the other hand if your respective solicitors are being useless the personal touch could help greatly (they'll realise you're a person, just as stressed as them, just as keen to move as them and they'll view as both of you vs the solictors rather than them vs you).

Perhaps the next step should be phoning the EA and asking for a list of things that have been done and a list of things that have yet to be done, as said above the EA doesn't actually take part in conveyancy so these lists may be wrong or inaccurate. Then phone your solicitor and ask for the same lists. Go find one of the many house buying guides online that explains the conveyancy process and compare. This will let you know where you are and what you can do to help. It may be you can do nothing you're just waiting on a document or something but then this isn't something the vendor/EA can blame on you so you can direct their elsewhere

It is all very stressful and can feel like the deal can collapse any second but I think this is just stress. Your vendor is unlikely to pull out just because things are taking a little longer than they'd like (they always take longer than you'd like). If they're in a hurry do they really want to start all over again?

Agree with most of this.

Unfortunately you are now learning that you can't pay the professionals a huge amount of money and then just leave them to it. You have to molly coddle, check and monitor everything yourself - ultimately, you are responsible and have the most to gain/lose.

As above, get educated on the process, speak to both sides and find out what they want/need. DOn't bother with ultimatums or blame, just stay neutral and get things done yourself - there are loads of good threads on this site.

Surrey_EA

headachesrus wrote: »

Ring your solicitor. Ask him what is outstanding and a realistic exchange date. Nothing to do with the agent.

It's probably a very difficult question for the solicitor to accurately answer right now. Until the search results are back the solicitor won't be able to complete their enquiries, and it won't be known whether all planning permissions are in place and it's a simple one, or loads of documents are missing/don't exist and it will be more complicated.

Personally, I would disagree that it's "nothing to do with the agent." A good EA can be invaluable in shepherding a sale through from offer acceptance to exchange.

Ultimately all parties should have the same objective:

The vendor wants to sell the property
The purchaser wants to buy the property
The EA wants it to go through so they receive their fee
The solicitors both want the sale to go through quickly, so they get their fee.

However, it's rare that everyone's timescale and motivations are perfectly in sync.