How long to give seller time to accept offer

Hm92

Hello all, looking for some advice.

My partner and I are first time buyers who put an offer in for a house on Wednesday 16th of this month which was verbally accepted on Monday 21st. Our solicitor sent the necessary paperwork through to the sellers solicitor the same day. It's now Tuesday 29th and we have not heard back since. I have called my solicitor who says that this is apparently a normal amount of time to wait for the offer to officially be accepted but as first time buyers you can imagine that we are feeling quite concerned. I have left messages with the estate agent who is now not returning my calls. The Rightmove listing does say under offer so I'm assuming it's our offer that they are referring to. The sellers went as far as to say that they wanted to speed up the legal side of the purchase due to being let down in the past so finding it all very strange that there is a sudden delay. Should we contact our solicitor again to say that they must accept by a certain date? Thanks in advance.

Guest101

Hm92 wrote: »

Hello all, looking for some advice.

My partner and I are first time buyers who put an offer in for a house on Wednesday 16th of this month which was verbally accepted on Monday 21st. Our solicitor sent the necessary paperwork through to the sellers solicitor the same day. It's now Tuesday 29th and we have not heard back since. I have called my solicitor who says that this is apparently a normal amount of time to wait for the offer to officially be accepted but as first time buyers you can imagine that we are feeling quite concerned. I have left messages with the estate agent who is now not returning my calls. The Rightmove listing does say under offer so I'm assuming it's our offer that they are referring to. The sellers went as far as to say that they wanted to speed up the legal side of the purchase due to being let down in the past so finding it all very strange that there is a sudden delay. Should we contact our solicitor again to say that they must accept by a certain date? Thanks in advance.

What do you expect will happen when it's 'accepted'


(it's already been accepted)

Hm92

Would our solicitor not simply say as much though? The last offer we had in on a property was accepted and we received a phone call from our solicitor to say so. We then had all the documents from our solicitor regarding the purchase sent to us within a few days that were to be signed and sent back. We had to withdraw our offer later due to structural damage to the property. Regarding this new property, everything has went through the estate agent who is now ignoring all calls which just doesn't feel very official? Would you suggest that nothing further needs to happen until our solicitor receives our mortgage offer? Sorry for my lack of knowledge regarding this, it's all very new!

AdrianC

Hm92 wrote: »

My partner and I are first time buyers who put an offer in for a house on Wednesday 16th of this month which was verbally accepted on Monday 21st.

Right, and...?

Have you had the memorandum of sale yet?
Have you given the EA your solicitor's details?

Guest101

I'd ask your solicitor to have a quick word, but ultimately it's a 3-6 months process typically.

eddddy

The EA is best for sales progression, not the solicitor. It will be more effective and much faster.

But it's strange that the EA isn't returning your calls. Are they 'no sale, no fee' and paid on completion? Or a fixed up-front fee?

If they're paid on completion, and they don't want to talk to you, that would worry me a bit.

If you're starting to get concerned that the purchase won't happen, all you can really do is start looking at other properties - just in case.

You can tell the EA that you're starting to look elsewhere, but there's no real point in making ultimatums.

AlexMac

This is down to the Estate Agent so get on their case; if necessary to their boss, or by satnding in their office till they tell you what the dealy is?

I regard my offer as having been "officially accepted" (in your words) when the EA issues the "memorandum of sale" which conventiaonlly includes the agreed sale price plus contacts for both vendor and buyer, and more crucially, their conveyancing solicitors. In my experience of several past purchases, this is copied directly to the two solicitors and acts as a trigger for your one to start spending time and money on asking for deatil from the buyer's one, initiate searches etc. At that point, (IMEx) unless you've already given them a signed instruction to proceed and a deposit for these initial costs they'll ask for one.

So assuming the seller and yourself have confirmed to the EA who the lawyers are, there's no cause for delay unless the vendor's playing games or genuinely can't decide on a lawyer. As a buyer , I always already have a solicitor primed and on my last few purchases the EAS has issued the memorandum literally on the day the offer was accepted...

I'd be hacked off if it took the EA over a week to draw up, email and /or post a single sheet of paper. It's in their interests to do this fast as they don't get paid til completion... but the 2-3 month lawyer process can't start til the EA kicks it off!

Hoploz

Are you in Scotland? The system is different there than in England/Wales.

Has the seller found an onward purchase? If not then it's best not to go any further until there is a complete chain.

G_M

Are you a cash buyer, or geting a mortgage? If mortgage, have you completed your mortage application yet?

Will you be getting a survey? If yes, have you instructed a surveyor yet?

ravsd

Delays can happen. The success and speed of your purchase is down to only a few things when it really comes down to it:
*Seller's willingness and eagerness to sell

*How competent and efficient the third parties involved in the transaction are (i.e. solicitor, EA, broker)

*Your ability to manage the process

I've bought 3 houses and I put the success of them down to my constant 'management' of the 3rd parties. I would call/email weekly asking them what was going on even though I knew that they were waiting for this or not. Why you ask? When they received what they were after, they were more likely to action it in a timely manner because, guess what, they knew I would be calling the next week asking what they have been up to!

If your worried about wasting their time then I would say don't. Your paying your solicitor X amount. The agent is getting xxx commission, as is the broker!

Like the post above says though. These things take time (they shouldn't) so don't get too disheartened, just keep chasing away and if its a house you love, it will all be worth it. If the seller's decide they have a change of heart then move on, these things also happen.

For more tips check out my website: https://www.aneasierway.co.uk

Thrugelmir

Do your vendors have somewhere to move to yet?