How often should we contact the solicitors?

Surrey_EA

Silence101 wrote: »

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! )

Some useful advice here: http://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/conveyancing-made-easy-for-buyers/

Property searches.
There are things you may not know about the property just from viewing it with estate agents or even getting a survey. The conveyancer will do a set of legal searches to ensure there are no other factors you should be aware of. Some searches will be recommended by the solicitor for all purchases and others will be required by the mortgage lender to protect them from any liabilities that the property may have:

Local authority searches: are there plans for a motorway in your new garden? How about radioactive gas? This costs between £70 and £400 depending on the Local Authority and usually takes 1-2 weeks, but can take up to 6 weeks
Checking the ‘title register’ and ‘title plan’ at the Land Registry– these are the legal documents proving the seller’s ownership. The title register check costs £3 and the title plan check costs £3. Both checks are legally required in order to sell
Checking flood risk – this can also done at the Land Registry. If you are already getting an environmental search (see below), you might not buy this one separately as the search will contain much more thorough flood information and maps
Water authority searches – find out how you get your water and if any public drains on the property might affect extensions or building works.The water authority search will cost between £50 and £75
Chancel repair search – to ensure there are no potential leftover medieval liabilities on the property to help pay for church repairs. This is a necessity and costs £18. However, you may decide to take out Chancel repair insurance instead for £20 or so. The laws around Chancel repair changed in October 2013 so now the onus is on the Church to establish and lodge liability with the Land Registry
Environmental Search – this report is used on the vast majority of transactions and is provided by either Landmark or Groundsure. Depending which product your solicitor usually uses, the report will give information about contaminated land at or around the property, landfill sites, former and current industry, detailed flooding predictions, radon gas hazard, ground stability issues, and some other related information. The cost should be around £50 to £60 including VAT
Optional and location specific searches – sometimes extra searches are required or recommended depending on the location or type of property or due to particular concerns raised by the buyer. These could include:
Tin Mining searches in Cornwall
Mining searches in various parts of the UK and Cheshire Brine searches
Additional Local Authority Questions such as Public Paths, Pipelines, Noise Abatement Zones, Common Land, etc.

Lurkingtoposting17

I'm not in a chain. Don't bother my solicitor at all. They email me when they know stuff, I respond when they email me. It's worked well. Phoned them once when we thought there was a major issue with the property, but I'm not a chaser. I'm also not in a chain.

I bought a ha property so before, and the 28 days is their ideal. Long as you can show acceptable progress they won't not let you buy it! I offered in the first week of January and moved in in middle march - so much longer than 28 days! They were chilled as they knew solicitors were doing everything that they needed to and mortgage was approved.

I would stress too much! :D

Lurkingtoposting17

I can't edit the above on my phone so just for clarity

I wouldn't stress too much !

Silence101

Lurkingtoposting17 wrote: »

I can't edit the above on my phone so just for clarity

I wouldn't stress too much !

Haha, I'm glad you clarified that :rotfl:

Thanks for your experience, hopefully ours will be similar (or quicker!)
Our rental agreement runs until mid October, so we need to hand in our notice mid September. A bit worried that if it runs over longer than our rental, but hopefully we'll have enough overlap to move, as we need to sort out flooring before we can move in.

Lurkingtoposting17

I think you'll be fine, once searches are in you'll find it's pretty quick and not a lot you can do until then. Just get all your paperwork sorted (ID, bank statements etc) that the solicitors has requested and as long as they know the dates I wouldn't fret too much.

I'm pretty on the chilled end of the spectrum I must say... Probably because I treat people how I want to be treated and I'd slap my boss if she checked in on me daily to see if I was doing my job :rotfl:

Good luck with your purchase! I'm sure it will go smoothly! And I hope you enjoy buying flooring more than I do !!

Silence101

Lurkingtoposting17 wrote: »

I think you'll be fine, once searches are in you'll find it's pretty quick and not a lot you can do until then. Just get all your paperwork sorted (ID, bank statements etc) that the solicitors has requested and as long as they know the dates I wouldn't fret too much.

I'm pretty on the chilled end of the spectrum I must say... Probably because I treat people how I want to be treated and I'd slap my boss if she checked in on me daily to see if I was doing my job :rotfl:

Good luck with your purchase! I'm sure it will go smoothly! And I hope you enjoy buying flooring more than I do !!

Thanks! I like your attitude, and need to remember that myself!
Flooring is a whole other issue, we can't decide what we want, so we need to start getting quotes to get a better idea of what we can afford.
Again, if we manage a substantial overlap, my husband is prepared to DIY, but I'm not sure how that will work if we only have a couple of days between getting keys and moving out.

nikkih72

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.

Think OP may mean exchange within 28 days to receive incentives for exchanging quick...as most New Builds require exchange in 28 days after ATP or mortgage offer been received,

then completion is usually a while after.

Silence101

No, the email from the HA says completion due on or before the specific date. So I'm assuming exchange has to happen in 3 weeks time for the sale to be completed in 4 weeks.
We're getting no incentives, didn't know that was a thing! They must have seen us coming from miles away!

TBagpuss

Ask your solicitor how long the searches are likely to take - they should be familiar with the timescales for the local council / councils in the area. then follow up based on that time scale.

Also ask them what else will need doing and what the timescales will be, and base your contact with them on that.

In general, they will contact you when there is anything to report,

Silence101

Thanks! I had a look on the council website, and it says they aim for 10 working days. Not sure how it works when it's a new build, whether it makes it quicker or slower (or is just the same as a normal enquiry).