First time buyer (NO CHAIN) 14 weeks now since offer accepted - Please help :(

Adrianne

Hi Everyone,

Me and my partner are 21 and 22 and have just bought out first ever property, a small flat in Weston super mare.

We had our offer accepted 14 weeks and 2 days ago now and had our offer accepted on the basis of a quick sale.

As we are first time buyers and so young we still live at home so are able to move in with no chain or complication.

The seller also has no chain, they are moving into an Inherited property that is ready for them to move into!

We had our mortgage accepted and signed off/completed within the first 3 weeks, but the solicitors started work straight away as the accepted the job the day after the offer was accepted.

As you can imagine, being first time buyers who have been together 4 years and saved every penny since being together to buy a flat rather than rent we were so excited when we had our offer accepted. Never in a million years did I ever expect that 14 weeks down the line we would be no closer to moving in. We have absolutely no indication of an exchange date at all, at first we were told the end of May, then the end of June, Now they cant even give us a date.

I'm so fed up now I'm not even excited. We have been ringing our solicitor almost every day and still getting no where.

Any advice/help would really be appreciated

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

What does your solicitor say?

Adrianne

My solicitors words were 'You could have bought 2 flats in this time'
But i'm being told that they are still awaiting documents from the seller,
however I was told this half way through the process in regards to the sellers pack, yet when I received this it was dated 1 month previous which makes me believe my solicitor had it all along.
I'm ringing my solicitor every day asking for updates and for them to chase the information but feel as if i'm now just being lied to and given the same answer again and again.
We also had 2 save to buy ISA's that we were told to close by our solicitor... But now it has gone on for so long we could have got another £200 out of them!

eddddy

Trying to chase via a solicitor isn't usually very productive. If you're buying through an estate agent, ask them to ask the seller what's happening.

My guess would be that it's to do with the inherited property. It can take many months to sort out an estate. (But it's also possible that your seller has changed their mind about selling, for example - so you need to find out.)

If you suggest to the estate agent that you might start looking at other properties soon, if you don't hear anything, that might motivate the agent to investigate a little harder.

smile88egc

What do you plan to lose financially if you pull out at this stage? Have you started looking at other flats?

I think you need to start focussing the minds of your seller and the solicitors with something like "the latest date we are prepared to exchange is X. We have started looking at other properties' .

Adrianne

Thanks for your reply,
I forgot to mention that I have also been in contact with my estate agent.. They are absolutely hopeless
When I last rang them they told me the man who was dealing with the sale has now left.
I am assured that the sellers are ready to move into their inherited property and have been since the offer was accepted.
The estate agents have done nothing to chase anything up despite me asking them

Adrianne

smile88egc wrote: »

What do you plan to lose financially if you pull out at this stage? Have you started looking at other flats?

I think you need to start focussing the minds of your seller and the solicitors with something like "the latest date we are prepared to exchange is X. We have started looking at other properties' .

Yes, we have started looking at other flats and there is absolutely nothing on the market that compares to the flat we have the offer on.
We have already said to our solicitor that we need an exchange date by the end of the week unless we will consider pulling out, but there is still no sense of urgency.

We have honestly tried everything

Adrianne

If we pull out now we will loose £1300 in solicitors fees,
But our deposit was only £6000 so that is a lot of money for us

eddddy

Adrianne wrote: »

Thanks for your reply,
I forgot to mention that I have also been in contact with my estate agent.. They are absolutely hopeless
When I last rang them they told me the man who was dealing with the sale has now left.
I am assured that the sellers are ready to move into their inherited property and have been since the offer was accepted.
The estate agents have done nothing to chase anything up despite me asking them

Are they are cheap 'paid up front' agent?

Normally, the EA will do 'sales progression' because they want to get their fee on completion.

Realistically, if the agent isn't going to do any sales progression, you need to do it yourself - you would need to contact the sellers and ask them what's happening.

BJV

I am so sorry to hear that things are going so slow. We had a terrible move and long story short sold our house the people we where buying from had no chain. We exchanged on ours to move out and then found out that there was a problem with the house we where moving too.

Our solicitor had to wait for additional paperwork from the vendors solicitor and it went on and on. 5 Months after we moved out of our house supposedly for a weekend we completed in May.

I know honestly I do just how it feels to be given a date and then for it to simply pass. To wait for phone calls that don't come. I genuinely understand how upsetting and unsettling it can be. Your solicitor even though you are paying them has to work not only for you but for the bank as well. They have set procedures that they have to go through and until all the boxes are ticked they can not exchange or complete.

There could be a simple reason for the delay the vendor may just be one of those people who are pains in the bum and everything has to happen on their terms. Or it could be something much more sinister, charges and restrictions or perhaps he has lost guaranteed or certificates.

I used to call & email my solicitor every day. That said there was nothing really they could do until they had the paper work other than chase it. I found that hounding the Estate Agents worked much better. Everyday without fail. They want the sale to go through as otherwise they end up with nothing. They also will or should also be in direct contact with the vendor.

Call them, hound them. In the end we started to lump all the pressure on them. Told them about mortgage extensions etc. We also told them that we where starting to look at other houses. ( which we had not, I know white lie)

I know it is very easy for me to say as it is not me in the middle of it all thank god! but hound them.

I also put two letters through the letter box a bit naughty and I understand that the Vendor was annoyed but hey needs must!

Well I honestly hope that everything works out. We got our house but it took for ever. It is amazing and we all love it, the whole family, even the dog who is enjoying killing the grass. It feels like we have always been there and it was worth the wait.

Good luck and call the estate agents now tell them exactly how annoyed and frustrated you are.

Adrianne

eddddy wrote: »

Are they are cheap 'paid up front' agent?

Normally, the EA will do 'sales progression' because they want to get their fee on completion.

Realistically, if the agent isn't going to do any sales progression, you need to do it yourself - you would need to contact the sellers and ask them what's happening.

No, the agent do not get their fee until the sale completes, but they are not chasing it.
Every time I speak to them they say that there is nothing they can do and it is down to the solicitors.
I have asked to speak to the person chasing with the sale and have simply been told that there isnt one.