Estate Agent Told Me House Has Been Sold But My Solicitor Says No. What's Going On?

Jox

When the property is sold and the land registry details are updated you will be able to see the sale price here:

http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd/

There will be estate agents fees and solicitor fees to come off the final price paid so bear that in mind.

System

It is very frustrating to have to wait on other people's actions, but as you can do nothing you need to leave well alone so that it doesn't get to you! Then when you get your cheque from your mother's estate you can make your new start.

Yes it is.
It is very frustrating because even though I have done everything I can by getting myself a solicitor, I have no control over the situation.

Although my mum has included me in her will and has left her house and assets to both me and my 2 sisters and all 3 of us are beneficiaries and inherit.

It is my sisters who are executives of the will,not me.
So I cannot sell the house myself and I cannot go to my sisters because I don't get on with them.

So I had no choice but to get a solicitor for this reason.

But we have made progress because at first my sisters did not want to sell my mum's house but my solicitor made them.
And the house was put up for sale in June.

Then I only found out last week that the house now has a buyer but is not yet sold.

I did ask my solicitor how long before I will get my money. He said 3 months(that's if the buyer buys the house.)

But I know that if of course that sale falls through it could take longer as another buyer will have to be found.

But at least now there is some hope that I could get my money by Christmas if nothing goes wrong.

I told you in my last thread that I am unhappy here where I am living.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5413329

2 weeks ago when I posted that thread I and the other tenants on my housing estate had no water supply at all.

And worse the water went off when I was in the middle of washing my hair.

Rest of that story is on that thread

So I had to scoop up the bath water that was already in the bath I had filled into a plastic bowel. And carry that bowel over to the kitchen sink. And rinse my hair standing over a plastic bowel over the sink to get the soap off as the water went off while I was soaping my hair.

It is a good job I had filled the bath up before I soaped my hair otherwise I don't know how I would have got the soap off as the water went of just as I was soaping up.

And this is not the first time I and the other tenants have been without water.

Last time it happened the pump broke down on Christmas day 8 months ago last year when I was in the middle of cooking my Christmas dinner.

And I had to go out I the pouring rain to find a shop open to buy a bottle of water and got soaked.
It ruined my Christmas and even though they say they fixed it.
The water pump broke again on New Years Eve leaving us again without water.


I mean have you any idea what it was like for me to have to stand bending down over a plastic bowel in the kitchen sink having to rinse my hair with a beaker?

It took me 2 hours to do and I should not have had to do that.


So you can understand why I don't want to stay here with the HA.


I told my Ex-CMHT social worker this and she understands that I also don't want to stay here because of the high rent I will have to pay to my HA (£608 per calendar month) out of my inheritance when my benefits stop.As well as the fact that I don't like my HA and the impersonal system they have

Because when my money comes my savings will be over 16k and all my benefits except for my DLA will then be stopped.

I wanted to tel my solicitor about my horrible week without water and how badly the HA treats us tenants and the real reason I want the money because I want to get out of here.

But he does not seem to be very sympathetic or understanding towards my MH and would only give me 5 minutes when I saw him in the office.
So I did not tell him and even if I had told him I know there is nothing he can do about it as he is not a housing solicitor and cannot get me re-housed.

Maybe it's just as well I didn't tell my solicitor about my problems as it may put him off of helping me get my inheritance.


And my council won't anyway as I am a HA and they see it as they are providing me with accommodation.

So if I want to move as I do want to, I will have to do it on my own.
But I cannot at the moment because I am on benefits and don't have the money to rent anywhere else.

So that's one of the reasons why I want to get my inheritance as soon as possible.

Not just because of the HA but because there are other issues I am unhappy with.

My CMHT won't give me any psychiatrist of keyworker so that's another reason I want to move.

My GP practice closed down in March but I have not yet got another GP because I have been too upset to look for one. And I am frightened that I will end up at a really horrible GP practice that I won't like.
As there are only about 3 GP's that cover my area.
I did try several but they said I am out of their area.
Which is ridiculous as I am only a bus ride way and they like you to be close to the surgery.

Well I am, but just not on their doorstep that's all.

My mum has also left 77k of her saving to me and my 2 sisters.
So we will each get 25k each.
But that money has not been distributed yet.
Because my solicitor has asked for it to be sent at the end of administration at the same time I get my money from the house.

I did ask my solicitor if it were possible to get some of that money now,Say 2 thousand pounds. But said he would have to go to my sisters to do that and he said my sisters might not want to give out that money now.

So I feel helpless.
Because I want get my money and move but there is nothing I can do until the house is sold.

And I don't know how long I will have to wait.

When the property is sold and the land registry details are updated you will be able to see the sale price here:

http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd/

There will be estate agents fees and solicitor fees to come off the final price paid so bear that in mind.

Yes there will be estate agents fees. I and my sisters will each have to pay a third of the costs out our share of the money from the sale of the house.
And I will also have to pay my solicitors fess.
My sisters are not using a solicitor, they are selling the house without one,so I understand.

TBagpuss

It's likely that your solicitor is not unsympathetic, and telling him won't 'put him off' ensuring you get what you are entitled to, but telling him won't make any difference to the work he is doing, so you'd be paying £250 per hour (or whatever his charging rate is) for him to listen sympathetically.

No matter how bad your situation is or has been, he has no power to make the house sale go faster.

From what you say, t sounds as though your solicitor is doing all the right things, and also that he is trying to look after your best interests by ensuring that you don't have lots of long meetings with him which would cost you a lot of money but not get you any further forward.

It is very frustrating to have to wait, but it sounds as though your solicitor is doing everything he needs to.

If you feel you need to see your solicitor, it's normally best to phone ahead and make an appointment. Most solicitors will have lots of appointments each day so if you simply turn up, they are likely to be meeting a different client who made an appointment, or preparing for such a meeting, and not be free to see you.

Do you know how much your legal costs are so are? It might be sensible to ask your solicititor if he can tell you roughly ho much your costs so far are, so you understand how much the meetings you have with him are costing you.

System

Yes I think you are right.
I don't think my solicitor would get rid of me if I told him about my problems with my HA and my wanting to move.

But he is not a CPN or A social worker and also he probably has little experience in dealing with people like me. So if I did tell him there is nothing he can do about it.

I went to my solicitor because my mother has left me her house in her will and has also left it to my sisters.

I wanted to sell the house but my sisters would not.

Now thanks to my solicitor my sisters have put the house up for sale and now a buyer has been found.
That would not have happened if I had tried to sort this out on my own without a solicitor.

So my solicitor is doing what I asked him to do which is to get my sisters to sell the house and make sure that I get my full inheritance I am entitled to.
He also showed me the letters he has now written to my sisters when I saw him last week. Telling my sisters that they have a duty to keep me updated with the progress regarding the sale of my mothers house.

So my solicitor is doing all that he can as you say.

A house sale is not a quick fix that can be sorted out quickly. And you are right in that there is no point in me seeing my solicitor every week because there is nothing he can do to sped things up as it takes time.
I have to be patient and wait. Which is very hard for me as it's taking a long time. But there is nothing I can do about it.

I just keep on telling myself that it won't go on forever and the house will eventually be sold and I will get my money.
But I don't know when which is hard for me.

As I don't want to spend another year or 2 years with my HA but at the moment I don't have any choice.
I am stuck with here my HA until I get my inheritance.

So when I talk to him I should just stick with that and discuss any other problems (which are mainly to do with my HA) maybe with my Ex-CMHT Social worker.
Or my housing officer at my HA.

I want to move now but I cannot because a move to private flat with Liverpool or even a private flat where I live in my local area in London.

Would cost me at least a £1500 in deposit plus the removal van to move my furniture which could be as much as £1000.

And I cannot really afford that. I have about £4000 in savings and that would eat up most of my savings.

And even if my solicitor could get me some of my 25k to use as a deposit, then my benefits would be cut.
Because the DWP take of so much HB and ESA for any savings over £6000 and then they stop your benefit if savings get to 16k or more.

As it is I have £4000 I cannot ask my solicitor to get me any of the money now as it could go over the DWP limit of £6000.
And my solicitor has told me he does not think my sisters will want to give me that money now.
So that is not an option anyway.

So I think the best thing for me to do is to stay put where I am at the moment in my HA flat until I get my money from the house.
Then when I get my money I can move then as I will then have funds to look for a private flat. And maybe possible buy a flat up North.
That is the sensible thing to do. Because right now I am still on benefits with little money so I am not in the position to move.


So I have somehow got to resign myself to my fate-That I have to stay here in my HA flat until the house is sold and I get my money.

Since a buyer has now been found it is possible I could have my money by the end of this year if nothing goes wrong with the sale.

My Solicitor says 3 months unless of course that buyer pulls out of the sale.
I know some members on here say it could be a lot longer but even if it is-I don't think it will take as long as a year for the house to be sold.
I hope not.

thorsoak

Please be aware that every time you go to see your solicitor or speak to him on the phone, you are likely to be billed for his/her time - and it won't be cheap - charges will be more than £60 per hour. These charges soon mount up.

System

thorsoak wrote: »

Please be aware that every time you go to see your solicitor or speak to him on the phone, you are likely to be billed for his/her time - and it won't be cheap - charges will be more than £60 per hour. These charges soon mount up.

Yes I know he charges for speaking on the phone.
But I don't spend an hour on the phone with him.
It's about 10 or 20 minutes.

My Solicitor has written to my sisters last week telling them that as a beneficiary of the will I have a right to be kept informed and updated with the sale of the house.

Which my sisters have not done. Since I only found out about the buyer from their estate agent when I phoned them.

So if I don't hear anything regarding those letters I should phone my solicitor in say 2 weeks.

Caroline_a

Depending on where you live, most solicitors, particularly in the South East will charge up to £250 per hour or so for their time. This is whether you are talking to them on the phone or whether they are dictating a letter to someone for you. As I said before, every minute is accounted for! I think you have to let things happen in their own time, as I am sure your solicitor will notify you when anything happens.

As an indication, 5 years ago when my dad died, the solicitor charged over £14,000 for being the executor of his estate- and there was no house to sell! So my advice to you would be to leave things alone, as otherwise you will find that legal bills will quickly gobble up your inheritance!

You will have solicitor fees for the estate administration if your sisters have handed it over, plus fees for selling the house, all of which will come out of the estate money, but anything that your own solicitor does will come out of your own part of the inheritance.

You cannot speed up any of the processes as we have said before and neither can your solicitor, so you are just throwing money away by chasing him when things go quiet.

Savvy_Sue

annbarbs wrote: »

Yes I know he charges for speaking on the phone.
But I don't spend an hour on the phone with him.
It's about 10 or 20 minutes.

It's not just those 10 or 20 minutes he charges for though. Every time you phone there will be a charge, probably even if you don't speak to him, because someone will have to make a note that you called, what you wanted, and what action (if any) was taken.

FreeBear

annbarbs wrote: »

My Solicitor has written to my sisters last week telling them that as a beneficiary of the will I have a right to be kept informed and updated with the sale of the house.

Errrm. No. The executors have no legal duty (as far as I'm aware) to keep you informed of the progress of the house sale.

However, it is prudent on their part to provide regular updates as and when there are any significant developments.

System

Yes that's true that if my solicitor gives me a face to face consultation in at his office it will be more on my legal bill because he will have to charge for for it.
Also he did warn me that if I phoned him too much he would also have to charge as it's his time.

My solicitor did give me an estimate of the costs when he took me on-
He said between £2000 and £3000.
And I did ask him if I have rung up a big legal bill and he said No.
So I don't understand why your Solicitors bill was 14k if you only went there to make a will!


My sisters are not using a solicitor now, they only had their solicitor to apply for the grant of probate in December 2015. But now they are selling the house themselves with only their estate agent.

But yes my Solicitor said that my and my sisters will each have to pay the estate agents fess. Which is a third of whatever the costs are each out of our inheritance.
And of course then I will have to pay my solicitor bill.

So if the house gets sold for 280k my and my sisters each get a third of what it is sold for which I have calculated as 93k plus our 25k each from the 77k of my mothers savings she left to us.

Which is 118k each.
But I won't be taking that home as costs from the estate agent will come off of that plus my legal bill with my solicitor.
And if my sisters are also using a solicitor to sell the house then yes I would have to pay a third of those costs as well.

So I could take home 100k by the time that's done or maybe 90k if costs are more.
Obviously I don't know yet because the house has not been sold and neither has my case with my solicitor.

There is the worry that my sisters could either try to keep my share of the money for themselves, or not hand over my full share or even try to over charge me for my third of estate agent costs.
And I told my solicitor this and he said it is possible but if my sisters did refuse to hand over my money he can take them to court.

It is because my sisters do not want anything to do with me and do not want any contact with me that I have had to get myself a solicitor for this reason.

I don't know how long this is all going to take before the house finally gets sold and I get my money.
I might have to wait 6 months or even longer.

Or I might not have to.
Nobody knows the future.
But I think I have done the right thing by getting myself a solicitor and it seems he is doing all he can to get the house sold.

If I had tried to do this on my own without a solicitor the house would not even be on the market now because my sisters did not want to sell the house.
But my solicitor made them and now it is up for sale and it has found a buyer.
So I think I am getting closer to getting my money from the house and all we can do is hope I don't have to wait to long before it is sold.

As you and my solicitor told me, the house is not officially sold until I get my money.
I did look on the estate agents website and it said under my mothers house
SOLD-STC.
I know you and my solicitor said it's not sold and just means my sisters have now found a buyer.
But what does
Sold STC Mean?
What does that mean