How often should we contact the solicitors?

Silence101

Hi,

We've just paid for the basic searches today, and we have been told our solicitors have received the contract from the sellers' solicitors. We're FTB, buying a new build (s/o). The HA has a 28 day deadline, so we've got just about a month left.
How often should we be contacting the solicitors to find out the progress? I don't want to pester them (but phoning them twice a day can't be classed as pestering, surely? :rotfl:) but I do want to be kept in the loop, and make sure things are moving as swiftly as possible.

TIA

NaughtiusMaximus

I've been wondering the same question and would be interested to get peoples thoughts. Maybe if you haven't heard from then for a week or is that too often???

humidex7

Depends on what stage you're at. If you're waiting for searches to be returned, bear in mind that these can take a while.

Silence101

humidex7 wrote: »

Depends on what stage you're at. If you're waiting for searches to be returned, bear in mind that these can take a while.

Yes, we've just paid for the searches, so I'm expecting them to start them soon (but again, no idea what is the usual timeline for them to proceed)

Rambosmum

Searches might take 28 days!

They'll likely contact you but I'd call for an update after a week.

I assume your solicitor is aware of the deadline?

Silence101

Rambosmum wrote: »

Searches might take 28 days!

They'll likely contact you but I'd call for an update after a week.

I assume your solicitor is aware of the deadline?

Thanks, I hope it won't be so long!

Yes, we included the deadline in our cover letter, and they haven't said that it was unlikely... yet.

Surrey_EA

Silence101 wrote: »

Yes, we've just paid for the searches, so I'm expecting them to start them soon (but again, no idea what is the usual timeline for them to proceed)

Most searches can now be done online, and the results are available almost immediately.

The exception being the local authority search which is obtained from the local authority. There can be a huge difference in the time taken to complete a local authority search, some councils can turn them around in a few working days, others may take as long as 12 weeks.

Marvel1

I think if you and their other clients kept chasing progress, they would be too busy making further progress

Surrey_EA

Silence101 wrote: »

We're FTB, buying a new build (s/o). The HA has a 28 day deadline, so we've got just about a month left.

It's rare for a sale to go through in 28 days, many will take 12 weeks, or even longer.

However, in my experience as long as reasonable progress is being made it is unusual for a seller, be they HA or developer, to withdraw on day 29. The key is to keep everyone informed of what stage you have reached.

Contact with your solicitor a couple of times a week should be sufficient, and you may find this is easier via email, rather than a phone call.

Silence101

cjdavies wrote: »

I think if you and their other clients kept chasing progress, they would be too busy making further progress

Oh, we might have found a gap in the market, an interim company who can check on progress without taking time away from the actual work! (Not sure how it would really work but it's an idea )

Silence101

Surrey_EA wrote: »

It's rare for a sale to go through in 28 days, many will take 12 weeks, or even longer.

However, in my experience as long as reasonable progress is being made it is unusual for a seller, be they HA or developer, to withdraw on day 29. The key is to keep everyone informed of what stage you have reached.

Contact with your solicitor a couple of times a week should be sufficient, and you may find this is easier via email, rather than a phone call.

Why such a delay? As a FTB, I don't really know what is involved in the house buying process, I know there's searches and that the solicitors need to check contracts, but I don't actually know what they are looking for. Nor what the point of the searches are, if I'm honest (apart from the one that checks that the seller is actually the owner, that one I understand! )