The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

MrsBrush

birdmadgirl8 said:

@novelle @Pigeon56 @pineapple2 @ss2020jd We've reached exchange with 2 different solicitors (first one didn't go through, cos seller pulled out). First sol was really organised - we had TR1, Contract and Residential Mortgage Deed signed well in advance of exchange. This time we only received Contract prior to exchange. I asked about others and got no reply. On the fourth day of giving authority to exchange (at sol's request) we received the pre-exchange pack, full of info we'd been asking for since August (search docs we'd never seen, mortgage offer & deed, etc). It's lucky there were no problems, as we didn't have time to read 15 attachments at the moment she sent them (it said we should work through them carefully and let her know if we had questions). It also instructed us to take out buildings insurance, which luckily I had already done. I panicked when I saw the mortgage deed, as I was at work and we needed to exchange (top of chain threatening to pull out). I called solicitor and she took my call for first time. Said we didn't need it for exchange. Phew! However, it needed my daughter's signature (as occupier). I asked for this well before she went back to uni, but have had to get it sent back and forth via special delivery. So unnecessary (especially as Sol just a blank form for me to print). So, we are still waiting for TR1 and I'm worried she won't get it to us in time for us to get it witnessed. I am chasing though and will her stand in office till she sorts it if I have to. This is a longwinded answer to your question about what's needed before exchange! Needed to rant though! I consider that ridiculously late arrival of the pre-exchange a pack dereliction of duty. And it's only because I was organised that we had things in place - no thanks to Sol whatsoever! 
PS Our first (brilliant) so left firm in June.

Having seen some real howling dereliction's of duty, including the terrible experiences we have had ourselves caused by our vendor's conveyancer, I now completely understand why chains fall apart at the point of exchange. I am pretty sure that there is a shroud of mystery deliberately pulled down by many conveyancers / solicitors in the house buying and selling space, designed to bamboozle and buy themselves time - therefore looking after their own interests rather than their client's.

There is a need for total transparency, and the need for someone from the solicitors / conveyancers to be available to answer questions, take all calls, look after all documentation and generally act in a more customer focused manner. Unfortunately, many home buyers and sellers are not experts, and do not move every couple of years, so need help that is just not forthcoming. It isn't so bad if you are organised and proactive, but where some people aren't, the issues snowball, people get frustrated and chains collapse. I think this is systemic fail and the system needs fixing urgently.

sacvwgolf

Really hoping we can at least discuss dates today/ tomorrow. Exchange soon after would be nice too

Pineapple2

Good luck to everyone hoping to exchange/on way to completion this week 🤞🏼Let’s hope we have some good news!

@MrsBrush I completely agree! It’s also very difficult chasing/following this all up when you both work full time. I work very similar office hours as the solicitor Monday to Friday and sometimes my lunch will land at 1 - 2 which is when they close for lunch so I cannot call and by the time I finish work they are closed.

Luckily I have a bit of time off this week which means I have more flexibility as to when I can call but otherwise it would be an absolute nightmare!

greensalad

I am back from a week away in Italy, having hoped for some progress...

Today I need to go on the offensive with the solicitor. They submitted the searches back in late August and said 3-4 weeks until they came back. Well that was 8 weeks ago now! I've emailed them twice for updates and thought I'd just wait until I got back from my trip before I started contacting them in earnest, so today is the day. 

Still wondering if we'll make it in in November. Nothing has been proposed so far, and in my head I was thinking November but now it feels like maybe December... I wonder if we'll be in before Christmas at all.

Moneybear

I've spoken to my solicitor this morning. We are just waiting on 3 different sets of enquiries to be answered by the vendor/their solicitor. I have left a message for EA to see if there is an update on the chain. It's been 3 weeks since we last spoke so I am hoping the vendor's vendor has found somewhere to go. 
When we had our viewing we were told that there is a possibility of the vendor's vendor going into rented so let's see! 

HopeAndDriftWood

Morning all! Ready for another week of uphill battles? 😅

Long story short; our buyer finally has the old buyers searches, but there's no news on their mortgage offer. Their solicitor has set aside Thursday to raise enquiries. I'm irritated that they've picked a day at the end of the week... We've got three weeks until our sellers' seller's mortgage offer expires and they've been clear that they can't extend it. I'm also getting a lot closer to my due date than I wanted... I'm worried about it being so close, and about Coronavirus risks if we move too close... we've been advised to reduce contact with people outside of the household for three weeks before to minimise chances of DH testing positive and not being allowed to the birth. 

@MrsBrush Best of luck for attempt 7! 

And to everyone else on this never-ending journey with me... I hope you're doing alright today. 

esubbs

6 weeks since our sale was ready to go and still waiting on the bottom of the chain to catch up. Considering we were told on offer back in July that we'd be completing a chain that was all ready to exchange and buyers wanted to buy previous buyers searches etc to get it through quickly I'm getting really worn down by it. The girls schools are both chasing me asking what's going on too as they both have waiting lists.
Starting to wish we'd gone for the 2k lower offer with no chain! 

MrsBrush

We are not exchanging today. The bottom of the chain have had to return the mortgage funds, so the earliest they can reapply is tomorrow - so assuming that is early enough we may be able to exchange tomorrow or Wednesday to complete on the 18th. Mine were sent back late on Friday, when it was clear that completion tomorrow wasnt happening - would have thought that their solicitors would do the same. This is so frustrating!

Pigeon56

@MrsBrush That is so frustrating! I really do have my fingers crossed for you that it does happpen thsi week for you! how many are in your chain? 

MrsBrush

Pigeon56 said:

@MrsBrush That is so frustrating! I really do have my fingers crossed for you that it does happpen thsi week for you! how many are in your chain? 

@pigeon56 Only four... first time buyers with large deposit at the bottom (who's solicitor only sent funds back this morning even though we had a lunchtime deadline on Friday for exchange), our buyers are paying cash, we have a large deposit and our seller is buying an already empty property and that is also a cash purchase. Most frustratingly, all are freehold properties so no leases to worry about, and no new builds - so in theory this should all have all been so simple.

I guess the lesson here is no matter how good your own team is, check who others are using in the chain and encourage them to not try to save money on cheap factory farm conveyancing, as it costs twice as much in time, energy and stress because they are crap!