The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

m4x1ne

@Madhouse2_2 It's not unusual from what I heard. Ours was similar - 4 to 5 weeks. And it was only sent then because when our vendors said they wanted to hold off sending the fixtures & fittings until they'd found an onward purchase I kicked up a minor fuss With June 30th fast approaching I wouldn't be surprised if solicitors are a little slow getting new clients up and running as well? No harm in asking the EA to ask the vendors to move things along though

Tiglet2

Madhouse2_2 said:

Tiglet2 said:

Before the seller's solicitor sends your solicitor the draft contract, this is what happens:
Seller instructs solicitor
Solicitor sends seller their terms of business, their ID form for completion, the protocol forms for completion  (Property Info Form/Fixtures & Contents/Leasehold Info Form)
Seller sends the signed terms of business letter back, sends their certified ID and the ID form back, completes the protocol forms and encloses any copies of certificates/building regs or other associated paperwork.  The seller may also need to pay some funds to the solicitor to start work.
Once the solicitor receives all the documentation, the ID is reviewed and an AML check is made.
Solicitor opens file and sets up an online account/tracker for the seller.
Solicitor orders copy title documents from Land Registry
Solicitor drafts the contract
Solicitor copies or scans all documents
Solicitor sends the documents and draft contract to the buyer's solicitor.

Believe me, 4 weeks is not unreasonable.  If your Solicitor and the seller's EA have been chasing several times, I can see why the seller's solicitor does not want to speak to them during a time of unprecedented demand.

Thanks Tiglet2 I do understand there is plenty of paperwork etc to be completed beforehand a good amount of which the buyer has to do too. 

What I can’t seem to get from anyone is if 4 weeks isn’t unreasonable what is the expected timeframe for receiving draft contracts? 

How long is a piece of string?  

This very much depends on how long the client takes to respond and how heavy the workload is for the solicitor, but on average 4-5 weeks, so it should be soon.  Do you or the EA know if the seller has returned all the paperwork yet?

m4x1ne

@asbear I agree with @laura0289 - I don't know if you're moving from a large house, but for our rental-to-rental moves we've always used a man with a van and they've always been great. We'd find ours on Gumtree - if you can find any reviews or something then it's probably ok.

Yay fingers crossed @hippocrates1, and congrats @FtbEmz and @ZSC!

My partner and I are FTB, buying a house from people who are buying a hopefully soon-to-be-vacant house. We heard from the EA that the tenants in our vendors' onward purchase are handing the keys back on the 28th, so got super hopeful that that'd be our exchange day! Now I've realised how little time there is until then! Hopefully our solicitor will get responses to the 2nd round of enquiries soon, and that they'll be happy with them, and that no horrible problems will pop up...
 

Madhouse2_2

m4x1ne said:

@Madhouse2_2 It's not unusual from what I heard. Ours was similar - 4 to 5 weeks. And it was only sent then because when our vendors said they wanted to hold off sending the fixtures & fittings until they'd found an onward purchase I kicked up a minor fuss With June 30th fast approaching I wouldn't be surprised if solicitors are a little slow getting new clients up and running as well? No harm in asking the EA to ask the vendors to move things along though

With an onward purchase I can understand wanting to wait until you have somewhere as what is included in onward purchase might affect what fixtures and fittings you’ll take/leave. 

But that’s just it, there is no onward purchase, house is empty has been for 18 months apparently vendors live locally still and said they wanted a quick sale 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am assuming it may be looming stamp duty slowing things down but who knows. 

Madhouse2_2

How long is a piece of string?  

This very much depends on how long the client takes to respond and how heavy the workload is for the solicitor, but on average 4-5 weeks, so it should be soon.  Do you or the EA know if the seller has returned all the paperwork yet?

i@Tiglet2 no idea with regards to paperwork EA have just repeatedly said they’re chasing but haven’t had any communication from vendors solicitors at all as yet. 

But I will ask next week. 

Thank you 😊 

BountyBlink

Madhouse2_2 said:

How long is a piece of string?  

This very much depends on how long the client takes to respond and how heavy the workload is for the solicitor, but on average 4-5 weeks, so it should be soon.  Do you or the EA know if the seller has returned all the paperwork yet?

i@Tiglet2 no idea with regards to paperwork EA have just repeatedly said they’re chasing but haven’t had any communication from vendors solicitors at all as yet. 

But I will ask next week. 

Thank you 😊 

I would give the agent a call today and ask if the solicitor is waiting for the vendor to return paperwork, put monies on account and ID checks, or if the vendor has supplied all the above and it’s the solicitor you are awaiting on to pull together the draft contract pack and send over. As those are two different things and will help you in terms of advice on here I would say... 

CLJ2986

So yesterday I had an email from my broker asking for solicitor details so they could get an update. They then told me that solicitor had said searches and enquiries were still outstanding, however I thought all searches were back as I have copies! I have no idea what the heck is going on!

sw7

CLJ2986 said:

So yesterday I had an email from my broker asking for solicitor details so they could get an update. They then told me that solicitor had said searches and enquiries were still outstanding, however I thought all searches were back as I have copies! I have no idea what the heck is going on!

Are you able to ask your solicitor directly? My very limited experience is that people involved who are not solicitors tend to use 'searches and enquiries' as a catch-all term for anything that is still happening, since they don't really understand what is going on. 

Possibly the solicitor told them something else and what you're getting is Chinese whispers.

oneilld3

oneilld3 said:

Update from my end. Vendors solicitor and mine spoke yesterday. Apparently they are still trying to complete for the 14th! Despite this outstanding issue with 'A Shade Greener'. My solicitor told me to send an email to him giving authority to exchange and complete, and to begin the request of funds from our provider as otherwise we won't have the funds by the 14th. Seems things are rapidly progressing, when a few days ago we still looked miles away!
EXCITED!

Just like that, exchange is done!
Got a call from my Solicitor at 4pm yesterday and was told we'd now exchanged and will complete on Monday 14th June.
Had to get home insurance underway obviously!
At the start of this week, I felt like even finishing before end of June was unlikely!!!
Exciting times ahead!!!

For everyone else exchanging/completing, then good luck! For those still waiting, things can happen very quickly so hang in there and keep pestering!!!

laura_lau

Good morning everyone. Aaaand it's Friday again... Sending good vibes and wishing good luck to everyone who is awaiting news. I know we can do it, as so many good examples in recent days are showing us, so I'm very hopeful! Now, Just had my coffee, I can start pestering the EA agent to see if they have finally been able to get hold of the seller's solicitor!