The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

tigerlily74

WiseOwl00 said:

tigerlily74 said:

I am sure if the vendor is that motivated they can answer your enquiries quickly. Good luck! I wish I was in your shoes. Sadly my vendor used purple bricks’ solicitors so who knows how long we will wait for this one last piece of information we have been waiting for since November.

We're in touch with the vendors via text, and they've already answered the enquiries from our solicitors so they're really quick. But ours is also using Purple Bricks' solicitors and we didn't receive our fixture + fittings forms (which the vendors filled out in November) until yesterday... 

it’s a nightmare isn’t it! It took them 5 weeks to get that to us. The property we are buying comprises of two titles and an unregistered piece of land , when they sent the contract pack in November, 5 weeks after they were instructed, it only mentioned one title, so we have been asking ever since for them to send the second title and details of the unregistered land across. We love the house so much but I am starting to feel a little hopeless! Fingers crossed for us both then.

Peppermint90

My solicitor  received all the searches this week and has sent out enquiries, but says it will take until mid-feb to complete.... How long are your solicitors planning on taking / have taken? 

DairyQueen

WiseOwl00 said:

17/10 - viewed property + put in an offer lower than asking price. 
18/10 - vendor asked for higher offer (still under asking price). Offer accepted. 
20/10 - information passed to estate agents. All solicitors instructed. 
26/10 - applied for mortgage (10% with Nationwide).
27/10 - Nationwide arranged date for valuation.
03/11 - Nationwide conducted valuation. 
10/11 - Nationwide asked for more information, mortgage advisor. Supplied.
12/11 - solicitor received contract pack. Paid solicitor fees + searches sent.
25/11 - mortgage offer received.
22/12 - searches due back (nearly 6 weeks after requesting!) 
04/01 - draft contract received to be signed (3 weeks after solicitor posted - post has been crazy round here!)
06/01 - solicitor has searches + raised enquiries.
08/01 - received fixture + fittings form and property information (finally!). 

I feel like we've been sat twiddling our thumbs for the last 11 weeks waiting for people to send us forms, etc. Then all of a sudden we've received loads of information regarding the property this week, and feel under pressure to read and understand it all quickly! The vendor seems really keen to move - they want a completion date of next week. We are definitely keen to move, as we've been trying to buy since July, but I don't want to cut corners! I've told my partner that we should raise any enquiries about anything we're not sure about, but apparently I'm being uptight and worrying about nothing.  The house has a loft conversion and conservatory - it's very unlikely they will have building regulations or planning permission due to when they were built, but I want to know this for definite from the solicitor and understand any implications this may have. Chances are it will be fine and not an issue, but I'd rather know this now than worry down the line when trying to sell. But apparently this is me being uptight.  Nonetheless, going to spend the day reading all the forms thoroughly and then will email all my enquiries to the solicitor. 

You are right to do a thorough job of checking. I'm amazed at how many people buy 'blind'.

We were approaching exchange on our purchase when, two days before Christmas, our solicitor emailed his enquiries report (with 23 attachments). I read the report and noticed a footnote on the first page making reference to a very unusual covenant. It had not been highlighted as of particular concern but I read the attached covenant anyway. Turns out that the current owner had bought a property which gives a neighbour complete control over any structure on the land. That includes so much as a garden shed. Can't even paint the door without his permission let alone build the extension we had planned.

This is a 1990s build but it has more restrictions than a listed building. We would have withdrawn from the transaction had we been informed at the time we made our offer (mid September). We are fuming as we have now incurred most of the costs of purchase but it is very unlikely that the neighbour will agree to revoke the covenant. The deal is therefore very unlikely to proceed. Meanwhile, we are stuck in limbo waiting for the vendor to contact his neighbour snd report back.

Had I not thoroughly checked all the points mentioned by the solicitor we would have bought the property unaware of the nasty surprise lurking down the line. Worse still, we would have been encumbered by a property that would have been very tough to sell as any well-informed buyer would run a mile.

Better to withdraw from a purchase than to take-on a white elephant.

FTB_Help

Peppermint90 said:

My solicitor  received all the searches this week and has sent out enquiries, but says it will take until mid-feb to complete.... How long are your solicitors planning on taking / have taken? 

Wait what?? Its going to take them until mid-Feb (4/5 weeks) to answer your enquiries?

Sotts

Peppermint90 said:

My solicitor  received all the searches this week and has sent out enquiries, but says it will take until mid-feb to complete.... How long are your solicitors planning on taking / have taken? 

Im not even sure if my solicitor has queries.  If there are, i have no idea but i ssuppose as we're buying new build with no chain, she's dealing directly with the housing association solicitor.
My MB phoned me Thursday and said he would be speaking to her Friday, so I'm expecting an update tomorrow.

So many parties involved, i just deal with my MB for now 

FTB_Help

For those still clinging on the hope of making the stamp duty deadline, this petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550545

Is still doing the round currently 52k signed, 48k to go and it will be debated in Parliament.

Im hoping to complete in about 8-10 weeks so should be fine but you never no what is around the corner

Peppermint90

FTB_Help said:

For those still clinging on the hope of making the stamp duty deadline, this petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550545

Is still doing the round currently 52k signed, 48k to go and it will be debated in Parliament.

Im hoping to complete in about 8-10 weeks so should be fine but you never no what is around the corner

Why 8 to 10 weeks? What stage are you at? 
I have no idea what timescales to expect, and whether I'm being reasonable or unreasonable in trying to push my solicitor. 

Peppermint90

FTB_Help said:

Peppermint90 said:

My solicitor  received all the searches this week and has sent out enquiries, but says it will take until mid-feb to complete.... How long are your solicitors planning on taking / have taken? 

Wait what?? Its going to take them until mid-Feb (4/5 weeks) to answer your enquiries?

You sound surprised...so I take it as thats not the norm? 

FTB_Help

Peppermint90 said:

FTB_Help said:

Peppermint90 said:

My solicitor  received all the searches this week and has sent out enquiries, but says it will take until mid-feb to complete.... How long are your solicitors planning on taking / have taken? 

Wait what?? Its going to take them until mid-Feb (4/5 weeks) to answer your enquiries?

You sound surprised...so I take it as thats not the norm? 

I just thought you had everything back except answer to enquiries? I just didn't expect vendors to take that long to respond to enquiries!

FTB_Help

Peppermint90 said:

FTB_Help said:

For those still clinging on the hope of making the stamp duty deadline, this petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550545

Is still doing the round currently 52k signed, 48k to go and it will be debated in Parliament.

Im hoping to complete in about 8-10 weeks so should be fine but you never no what is around the corner

Why 8 to 10 weeks? What stage are you at? 
I have no idea what timescales to expect, and whether I'm being reasonable or unreasonable in trying to push my solicitor. 

Unfortunately for me im buying a tenanted property, they are expected to leave end of Feb, but who knows if they will. Offer accepted in the 1st week of Oct, just sent enquiries so think we're almost there with getting the legal stuff ready in advance to sign the minute they leave!