Timescale from survey to exchange

HDNT

We are first time buyers and had our offer accepted on a property nearly 4 weeks ago which is now empty. The owners have bought a new build so we are technically buying the property from the building firm that built their new property. We have received a letter from the business that are representing the building company stating if we have not exchanged in 28 days from offer being accepted they will put the property back on the market. It will be have been 28 days in 4 days so we are slightly worried! Our mortgage is sorted and ready to go, searches and survey are done. I've asked the solicitor how long we are looking at until exchange but she won't give us an answer other than it depends on how quickly the seller gets paperwork over to her. Anyone have an idea of how long we are looking at? And does anyone know how likely it is that they will put the property back on the market?

Surrey_EA

Without knowing what paperwork your solicitor has, and which parts they are waiting for, and whether they have enquiries outstanding, it is impossible for anybody here to give you an answer that will help.

Any property transaction will only be ready to exchange when the slowest component has been dealt with satisfactorily. What that slowest component is will vary depending on the specific transaction. In some cases it might be the mortgage offer, in others it might be a planning permission or building regs document, or something else entirely.

In reality as long as reasonable progress is being made, and there are no unnecessary hold ups, it is unusual for the property to be put back on the market for sale, even if exchange hasn't taken place within the stated 28 day period.

dunroving

Being in the middle of a supposedly straightforward transaction myself, I can give you my experience, albeit not expert advice. I successfully bid for my house on March 1st, I'm a "true" cash buyer (i.e., not dependent on a sale), the house I'm buying has no upward chain. So, both buyer and seller are motivated. I got all surveys done within a week, provided evidence of funds, etc., within days.

As Surrey_EA said, though, you don't know how slow the solicitors will be, or other people in the process, nor what might come up with searches, that will need further action.

So, here I am waiting on an issue to be resolved with the title to the house, that look like it will delay exchange by another 2-3 weeks (so, is getting close to 7 weeks since my offer was accepted, and still not exchanged).

I think as Surrey_EA said, as long as you can show that progress is being made, a seller is unlikely to pull out and put back on the market - for one thing, they will only restart the clock and delay a sale even further. The only thing I can see them doing that for is if there is some irreconcilable issue with the buyer.

HDNT

Thank you both for your replies.


As far as I'm aware she is just waiting on the fixtures and fittings checklist which I would imagine they will send fairly quickly as they want the sale completed ASAP. I cant see that there will be any issues with that as we are only keeping the fridge/freezer that's built in. She has said she is satisfied with all of the searches and the mortgage is ready to go.


Hopefully they won't put the property back on the market, I can't see that they would gain anything by doing that.

dunroving

HDNT wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies.

As far as I'm aware she is just waiting on the fixtures and fittings checklist which I would imagine they will send fairly quickly as they want the sale completed ASAP. I cant see that there will be any issues with that as we are only keeping the fridge/freezer that's built in. She has said she is satisfied with all of the searches and the mortgage is ready to go.

Hopefully they won't put the property back on the market, I can't see that they would gain anything by doing that.

That's small beans, and dependent on the seller - so they can hardly re-market the house based on their own inability to return a form on time!

Are you keeping in regular contact with your solicitor? Like many professionals, they can assume they don't need to inform their client in any great detail so you should put them on the spot and ask them to confirm in writing which queries are outstanding, who is responsible for it, whether there is anything else you need to do, etc. I note you said, "As far as I am aware" - that's not good enough!

HDNT

Thanks, just emailed her to ask exactly what we are waiting on. We are both new to the house buying process and are probably not pushy enough!

hazyjo

Take a look at the 'waiting to exchange' thread to give you an idea of what people are waiting on towards the end.


Your vendors should be turning things round by return to make it within 28 days (or as good as)! Doesn't sound like they're rushing to me! If they lose you, they more than likely lose their new house so they really need to get their finger out...