Extremely slow solicitors

Nova123

We are first time buyers so we're not 100% how the buying a house process works.

We put in an offer on the house we are buying at the very beginning of January and bar a negotiation in price, everything else has been straight forward.

We completed our searches and signed weeks ago but we are still waiting to exchange. As far as I am aware the lady we are buying from is also almost ready but the vendors of the house she is buying are still not responding to her enquiries. The solicitors are EXTREMELY slow and we are sick of waiting.

Is there anything we can do?

Thank you

Nova123

EDIT - We are not waiting for our sellers solicitors. We are waiting for the solicitors from the house she is buying.

davidmcn

No, there is nothing you can do. You're not involved in that transaction. If you need advice, speak to your solicitors.

Voyager2002

If the deal is a bargain for you then really there is nothing you can do. If you agreed a high price for a quick sale or because the house felt right to you, then you could suggest to your vendor that she should consider moving into rented housing until the house she wishes to buy becomes available. Obviously it is open to you to tell your vendor that if she is unable to sell within a reasonable time then she needs to look for another purchaser; it is also open to her to do just that.

Are you buying through a traditional estate agent? Part of the EA's skill-set is having ways to pressure a vendor in this kind of situation.

hazyjo

Average 12 weeks from offer to completion.

Obviously that is the middle figure - meaning some will take say <6 weeks, others might take >18.

I'd not be panicking too much just yet. It's on the slow side, but 13-ish weeks so far is still sort of okay. Hopefully you're not far off.

I always say the only thing that causes stress with housebuying is deadlines and this mega-rush to get in asap. By all means speed things along and turn things round by return, don't drag heels, but try to keep the unnecessary stress to a minimum. Nobody's going to forget they're meant to be buying/selling a house.

SensibleSarah

My 'straightforward' first home had no chain and should have been easy. It took 1 week shy of 6 months from offer acceptance to getting the keys.

Consider yourself lucky

In all seriousness, it is stressful when you're a first time buyer and don't really know how things 'should' happen, but you'll get there in the end. Good luck!

Smodlet

hazyjo wrote: »

Nobody's going to forget they're meant to be buying/selling a house.

You've done it now, haven't you, hazyjo? Assuming (:o:eek:) the vendor was in full possession of his/her wits when the OP's offer was accepted, one cannot entirely rule out the possibility of brain trauma...

The more likely scenario is that lawyers take forever to do anything at the best of times, OP, and Easter, with its myriad bank holidays, is hardly the best of times. As hazyjo says, try to cultivate patience: Stressing has never hurried anything up since the universe began; all it does is make the wait seem longer. Try to distract yourself; do something fun. Plan a day out or give yourself something else to look forward to.

Good luck.

G_M

Blaming the solicitors (of your seller's seller?) for being slow, whan you are not in possession of the facts, is unfair..

* it might be their clients who are not responding;
* their survey might have thrown up an issue which needs further investigation, or price re-negotiation.
* the local authority (or other) searches might be delayed
* they might be on holiday - or having cold feet

There 101 possible reasons, all outside the solicitor's control.

Be patient, or find anotther property.

eddddy

Have a chat with the EA that you are buying through. A good EA might be calling EAs up the chain to keep in touch with what's going on.

You might get a better idea of what the problem is, and therefore, a better idea of when it might be solved.


Also, consider the possibility that your seller is fibbing. (For example, your seller might be delaying or having second thoughts, etc - but blaming their seller in order to keep the heat off themselves.)

hazyjo

Smodlet wrote: »

You've done it now, haven't you, hazyjo?

Good luck.

Haha not quite - but felt like a vendor did once. Chain collapsed, our offer sat there, and sat there, and sat there while they looked for a property. I then heard via the EA that he'd heard on a golf course from someone else that they were no longer selling. Nice of them to bloody well tell us! After all that faff, our buyer pulled out. Back to Square One.

Car1980

Welcome to the club. We put an offer in mid December and are stuck waiting for the other side to answer the final 4 pre-contract enquiries. They've been sitting on them for a month.