Is this normal

ClareyFairy

I am in the process of buying a house. All the contracts have been signed and returned to my solicitor.

My solicitor has now asked me to contact the seller to find a day for completion. Is this normal for me to have to sort this or should my solicitor be doing this for me?

Any responses greatly appreciated

pinkteapot

Did you buy through an estate agent? I'd go through them, rather than contacting the seller directly. You can have solicitors do it but it may not be the quickest way.

Everyone in the chain (is there a chain) needs to agree on the same completion date, so there can be a bit of ringing around. EA or solicitor has always done it for us.

DaftyDuck

Perfectly normal. Why not? Both of you can quickly sort out that it can't be a Thursday as granny has to be taken to the vet, and that after the 23rd is better, as hubby will be out on parole.

Do it through the agent, and it will get screwed up. Use the pair of solicitors and it will take an age and cost a fortune.

Cup o tea, cake and a chat. Ask what day the bins go out at the same time.

If, like pinkteapot suggests, there's a long complex chain, then solicitors will need to do the actual deciding. But, a chat between parties will help sort out preferences.

Mind you, there's an idea: chain parties. Get all the participants in a chain to the pub for a shindig to iron out all the complexities. You could sell the videos online, or to Channel 5.

cattie

Well I've bought & sold quite a few properties over the years & coming to agreement about a completion date has always been something both respective solicitors do, often liaising with the ea's.

Sometimes there may have been an approx hoped for completion date mentioned by buyer when coming for another look around once sale is progressing, but even then the actual completion date has been something the 2 solicitors will confirm with each other on behalf of their clients.

This is part of the work you pay the solicitor for, so make sure he/she is earning their fee & giving you work that they should be involved in.

xylophone

granny has to be taken to the vet,

Euthanasia?:eek:

LJS2014

We arranged completion date with our buyer directly as we felt it saved time.

Being in direct contact with the buyer made a huge difference to stress levels when solicitors presented so called "problems". In one instance, 2 days before we were due to complete the solicitor said there were "a couple of points to be ironed out which could take another week or so" (they are so flippant about these things) however because the buyer and I were in contact we were able to quickly resolve the queries and complete 2 days later as we had planned. :beer:

We weren't in direct contact with the people we were buying from and things just took so much longer than they needed to by the time you go through the agent who probably forgets to call the vendor for 2 days etc etc :rotfl:

princeofpounds

It's not really a legal matter in the slightest, so there is no reason why solicitors should sort it out. They normally just provide an idea of the legal timescale and confirm that the two sides have instructed the same date.


Very often - probably most of the time in my experience - the EA shepherds this along but talking direct also perfectly acceptable if you are in contact.

DaftyDuck

xylophone wrote: »

Euthanasia?:eek:

No, Evelyn. Euthanasia has problems with her legs, and doesn't get out much. We are fitting her with castors on Tuesday.

G_M

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Cup o tea, cake and a chat. Ask what day the bins go out at the same time.

I'm so pleased to see I'm finally getting my approach across.

:T

jjlandlord

G_M wrote: »

I'm so pleased to see I'm finally getting my approach across.

:T

Bill Cosby was using it long before you.

DaftyDuck

G_M wrote: »

I'm so pleased to see I'm finally getting my approach across.

:T

Mind you, I resort to the "boys", a crowbar, and the lemon juice in the eyes if tea and cake doesn't work.