The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

WorriedKirkels

@tomnookfan - no harm in dropping them a quick email updating them on what the EA has said and asking whether this is the case. Waiting 24 hours or more to check each element can add weeks to the overall process as solicitors usually have set response times to reply to contacts i.e. 48 hours….plus you are paying your solicitor 😀 

heartofzinc

So my move is back on now the vendor has found a property with no chain yay. Does mean I will more than likely have to redo my mortgage though due to it running out in October. From what I’ve seen though the rates are better than when I applied so good news all around just gotta wait for a moving date again now! 

badger09

Justonemorecupoftea said:

Just waiting for our seller to say they agree to our proposed completion date. They want things done asap and we've proposed two weeks time, a week to cross i's/dot t's then a week between exchange completion. Can't really get it done much before that.

How unusual is it for completion to be midweek?

Not unusual at all. We exchanged Monday 1st Feb & completed Thursday 4th. I echo what others have have said, avoid Fridays if at all possible as its the busiest day all round. Also, in the very unlikely event completion doesn't happen as scheduled, at least with a mid week date there's a chance to complete the following day. Can't do that if it fails on a Friday.

badger09

climbthatwallseegar said:

Feeling despondent this morning. It's only been 3 weeks since our offer on a house was accepted but I'm desperate to get things moving along as I hate the rental we moved into after selling our property last month.

Today my solicitor forwarded me an e-mail from the vendor's solicitor in which they explained they have been instructed not to  issue any documentation, contract pack etc because the vendor is still waiting to hear back on his onward purchase offer. Vendor is moving along with his elderly mother and I just have a feeling of doom and gloom about this. They are moving to very expensive part of the country and seeking a retirement property and my sense is they will need a property that ticks a lot of boxes so could be a while. Sigh. I probably should have carried out more due diligence beforehand but the EA gave the impression they had found somewhere and were ready to move. Also the type of property we needed in the specific area we wanted are selling in a day or less, competition is insane so it really is a sellers market and we had to move fast.

Ah well. I still have 5 months left on the rental lease so we couldn't move right now anyway but just want to feel a sense that things are moving in the right direction!

Sorry to hear that, especially as you've taken the difficult decision to sell & move into rented. That's hard enough without being unhappy there aswell.

It sounds like you might be in for a long wait for your vendors to find somewhere suitable. I think in your situation, I would just park that purchase and instruct your solicitor to do no more work until your vendor has found somewhere. In the meantime, keep looking - properties are coming onto the market in  most areas all the time. Hopefully you'll find one which is less stressful

geostar37

Hi all,

Been reading for a while but not wanted to post however now feel the need to see if others have been in this situation. . . 

We are in a chain of 6 properties. The one we are buying is the end of the chain. We are now in week 13 since selling ours and having our offer accepted. The property at the bottom - despite supposedly being 4 weeks ahead of us in the process has held things up at every stage. 

Finally, last Thursday we received an email from our solicitors to say ‘the chain wishes to complete imminently - is the 5th Aug acceptable to you as completion?.’ We reply immediately yes. Friday we receive a phone call asking for permission to exchange. Expecting it all to go ahead. Nothing happens. Chase on Monday. Given 2 different reasons for the delay. Our solicitor said that a solicitors further down the chain did not have enough qualified staff in to do the exchange and wouldn’t have until the middle of this week. Our estate agents then chased and said that actually solicitors at the bottom of the chain realised they did not have a signed contract - and only sent this out on Friday. I mean !!!!!!?! 

Update this morning was ‘they are hoping for the contracts back today and to start exchange’ but obviously we have heard nothing. I don’t understand why they are ‘hoping’? I mean where is the contract? Has it been signed? Has it been posted back? Either it’s due back today or it isn’t. Why is everything so bloody vague?

I’m getting so frustrated. After being told 5th twice last week, I have organised childcare. I know our buyers are away the week after next so if don’t make that week it will set us back a further week. Originally we were aiming for mid July and our poor seller cleared out the house (probate) and had to use annual leave to do it as was under pressure. 

What are the chances of us making the 5th - and being able to book removals? 

Any advice welcome - I’m at my wits end - and I’m actually on holiday this week and finding it so hard to keep calm for the sake of my kids.

mortgage_noob

Hi everyone, 

buying my first home so just wondering what is left to do

• Mortage offer received, signed and returned to solicitor
• Suvery done
• environmental and local searches back
• our solicitor sent enquiries on the 1st July but unfortunately has not responded to emails from us asking if the responses were received - Is it usually the case that they take this long?

No chain and we'd like to move as soon as possible so keen to know if we can think about talking dates soon?

E_D_FTB

mortgage_noob said:

Hi everyone, 

buying my first home so just wondering what is left to do

• Mortage offer received, signed and returned to solicitor
• Suvery done
• environmental and local searches back
• our solicitor sent enquiries on the 1st July but unfortunately has not responded to emails from us asking if the responses were received - Is it usually the case that they take this long?

No chain and we'd like to move as soon as possible so keen to know if we can think about talking dates soon?

Hi @mortgage_noob, welcome! We're also FTB at about the same stage as you - waiting on some enquiries, although they were only send on 22nd. Sadly, enquiries can take a while depending on the seller's solicitor and the seller themselves being speedy or not. But your solicitor should be chasing and certainly shouldn't be ignoring your emails. I would call if I were you, much harder for them to ignore.

In terms of talking dates, why not? Worst case scenario your proposed dates don't work, but I think it's good to start aiming for a date to keep everything moving. But I would go to the EA for that, rather than your solicitor if you're struggling with responses from your solicitor.

greensalad

What's the average length between exchange and completion?

We want to give notice on exchange in our rented, but we have 2 months notice period. We want an overlap anyway, but I'm guessing 4 weeks between exchange and completion is out of the question. Seems like 2 week or 1 week is more common on this thread?

E_D_FTB

greensalad said:

What's the average length between exchange and completion?

We want to give notice on exchange in our rented, but we have 2 months notice period. We want an overlap anyway, but I'm guessing 4 weeks between exchange and completion is out of the question. Seems like 2 week or 1 week is more common on this thread?

I think the average is 1-2 weeks, but it can be longer if you need it to be, and I wouldn't say 4 weeks is crazy long! Ultimately, it'll take longer than 4 weeks for them to find a new buyer and get to exchange and notice periods are a totally reasonable reason to delay completion a bit.

ss2020jd

Hi everyone sorry I haven’t had time to read and respond to the latest messages but just wanted to let you know completion finally happened! 😅🥳

Will pop back later share my experience and hopefully reassure others that as low as it can feel - things usually have a way of working out.