Up to conveyancing stage - Help me understand the process

franklee

alicewilliams wrote: »

Yes ALL of us in the chain already have our mortgage offers and ALL of us are now on the stages of searches and other formalities. I know you can't give me a concrete answer, but assuming there are no complications, how long would this process then take?

The person best placed to estimate timescales is your solicitor but he will only be answering for your immediate links in the chain. Other links may have other issues causing delays, e.g. searches in some areas take weeks to come back so it depends on where the other properties in the chain are. All the solicitors will be asking for a ton of paperwork if there has been recent work done on any of the properties e.g. new boiler, windows, building work, removing walls etc. so there may be a flurry of waiting for the relevant certificates. Then any of the vendors in the chain may go on holiday. Or the FTB at the bottom may need to give notice on a rental property. It just needs one thing anywhere in the chain outstanding and you all wait for it. Then when that's done something else will probably crop up. It will also depend on how quickly each solicitor answers queries. Obviously the longer the chain the more chances of delays.

Thrugelmir

alicewilliams wrote: »

Thanks mildredalien for your reply - Yes ALL of us in the chain already have our mortgage offers and ALL of us are now on the stages of searches and other formalities. I know you can't give me a concrete answer, but assuming there are no complications, how long would this process then take?

Have you spoken to the other parties in the chain? Everybody has to agree on a single date for completion. Everybody has their own agenda and preferred date for convenience though. .

alicewilliams

Thanks again everyone.

As said, everyone else within the chain is in exactly the same position as me. The vendor I'm buying off is a cash buyer for the next property and their vendor has no chain. My buyer is an FTB, but already has done everything and is awaiting searches. We all live within the same council boundaries and they said 4-5 days max for searches.

However I get what your saying as you never know where the next delay is, so I guess I'll just have to wait and hope that the solicitors chase up everything as quickly as possible.

One question though....Does a FTB also have to complete some sort of pack that has to be given to me?

Richard_Webster

ALL of us in the chain already have our mortgage offers and ALL of us are now on the stages of searches and other formalities

Unfortunately chains can sometimes be longer than you think and the information you have about those you do know about may be out of date. People in chains cheerfully agree completion dates without checking with their solicitors that they are achievabale.

Also a buyer's solicitor will get a property information form. He will read through it and make sure that the answers given make sense. So. for instance, he will look at the estate agent's particulars and if it is pretty obvious the property has been extended and the seller has said there have been no extensions he will follow that up and ask for an explanation. Seller may then have to produce copies of the plannninhg and buildign regualtion consents and there may be a delay while these are obtained formt he Council. There are lots of other points that could come up - but hopefully that will give you a flavour.

Sometimes a solicitor will discover something that he will have to report to the mortgage lender and aask for authority to proceed. All these things can cause delays.

alicewilliams

Thanks for clarifying that Quizzical & Richard. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the solicitor says. Once again thanks to all of you for your advise.