Local searches

YoungBlueEyes

Evening everyone. I have a few questions about local searches.

I've had an offer accepted on a house in Belper, Derbyshire. I got a chunk off the AP on the proviso I was quick about it and moved in sharpish. Fine by me. The buyer of our house has had a wee prob with his mortgage (soon to be resolved I think) so I'll be good to go. I had a full survey done but no searches (on the advice of my conveyancing solic who said it would be wise to wait for our buyer to get sorted before I shelled any more money out). The Belper EA is an aggressive lying toad, and has said the Belper vendor is getting worried that I haven't had searches done, even though I've explained it to them 4 times! The latest issue the vendor has is that the local searches for Amber Valley are taking 7 weeks to come back which is too long for the vendor to wait. However if I agree to expedite them that would appease her. I said I was waiting on our buyer before making any further moves, but that I saw no reason we wouldn't be moving along next week, and I'd start searches then. Belper EA ....vehemently expressed disappointment.... with my decision.

Can I ask if anyone here has had local searches done in the Amber Valley area recently? If so how long did they take to come back? Did anybody expedite them? If so how much did this cost? And how much quicker are they really?

I'd be grateful to hear of any experiences

Doozergirl

If I had agreed to move quickly then I would fully expect the EA to be chasing me to find out what progress was being made. I wouldn't be calling them a toad if I hadn't have commissioned searches. It's the first thing a solicitor does for you and by spending that money, it is proof of your commitment.

You've just told us that you are purposefully delaying, essentially in case your sale falls through and you lose the searches money. I see your reasoning and it makes sense in usual circumstances, but you mst be aware that isn't the behaviour of someone trying to move quickly, regardless, and so I see the vendor's point also.

I'm not entirely sure why they thought you were a strong bet on completing quickly when you have your own buyer, but that's their decision to make. I'd get used to be chased up, though, as this isn't going to move quite as fast as the vendor is hoping. As you've clearly pointed out, you're dependent on someone else.

I wouldn't blame the EA though. They're doing their job and trying to expedite something that you had committed to expedite.

jennhg88

Just get the searches done, you are going back on what you originally agreed to by purposefully delaying things that need to be done in order to progress.

Try and see it from the other perspective and you'll soon understand.

SmashedAvacado

You can find out how long it is happening for searches to come back in your area by phoning the search department at the LA and asking them. I have done this many times and its often not long at all. The usual delay with searches is caused by buyers not giving their lawyers the money to get on with doing the searches, buyer's lawyers being slow with getting them done, and sellers not providing title documents / a plan with the initial papers to allow the search to be done. Some LA's are better than others but most will actually come back in a couple of weeks - particularly in a market like this where there's not a huge amount of buying and selling happening.

YoungBlueEyes

Thank you for the replies

DoozerGirl - I agreed to move quickly when the sale of our house was going swimmingly, but now there's a hold-up with our buyer I'm cautious of spending another bunch of money (already had a full survey) for a house that won't wait for us to find anther buyer. According to the EA the vendor is quite happy to put tenants in again but I'm hoping that's a scare tactic to get me to moving. I've done as many other things as I can to reassure the vendor I'm serious, I'm just worried that if we lose our buyer then the money for searches will be down the drain for nothing. I have been honest with them about it though.

jennhg88 - I can see it from her perspective, I understand it must be frustrating.

SmashedAvocado - I didn't even think of doing that I'll do it first thing tomorrow :T

eddddy

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

I agreed to move quickly when the sale of our house was going swimmingly, but now there's a hold-up with our buyer I'm cautious of spending another bunch of money (already had a full survey) for a house that won't wait for us to find anther buyer. According to the EA the vendor is quite happy to put tenants in again but I'm hoping that's a scare tactic to get me to moving. I've done as many other things as I can to reassure the vendor I'm serious, I'm just worried that if we lose our buyer then the money for searches will be down the drain for nothing. I have been honest with them about it though.

Now you've clarified why you're delaying, I guess it's not surprising that people are getting a bit panicky.

You're kind-of waving a big red flag and saying "There's a problem with my buyer and I'm worried that my buyer is going to walk away".

I guess that your approach is reasonable, but I guess it would also be reasonable for the seller to start thinking about putting their property back on the market.

Surrey_EA

Making the assumption that the property you are selling is the one referenced in your other thread, it's not marked as 'sstc' or 'under offer' on Rightmove.

The EA may well be an "aggressive lying toad" but as their client accepted an offer from you on the basis you were prepared to move quickly, the fact that you've had previous buyers withdraw, and that you're so concerned about your buyer's ability to proceed that you're not prepared to commit to a couple of hundred pounds worth of local search.

I'm not surprised the EA is disappointed, because they're probably getting it in the neck from their vendor, complaining that you're not the fast, seriously motivated buyer they thought you were.

G_M

Indeed.


You convinced the EA you could & would move quickly.
The EA then assured your sellers you could & would move quickly.
The sellers agreed to sell to you on that basis.
Now you are delaying things. The reasons why are irrelevant.
Your seller is therefore highly annoyed and is shouting at his EA "but you assured me this buyer could & would move quickly. You lied to us!"
The EA is therefore doing all he can to move things along and is putting (understandable) pressure on you.



That's his job!

YoungBlueEyes

I do see that I'm now not the buyer I assured the EA I was in the beginning, I'd be annoyed too if the situation was reversed.

The hold-up is our buyer's mortgage company. The guy got a payrise at work so the mortgage was ok'd. Then right before exchange they decided they need to see x number of payslips with the new higher wage on it. Understandable. But they keep needing one more payslip, then another, and now another. I'm sure it'll go through ok this friday, I'm being super-cautious I suppose. I don't want to throw money away to appease a vendor for a house that she'll put tenants back into for a reason that's outside of my control.

The Belper EA rings me a lot, which i understand is his job. If I could influence that mortgage co I'd have done it long before now!

To answer my original question (in case it helps anyone else) Amber Valley is currently taking between a week and 10 working days to do local searches. Another lie from the EA. The woman at the council said to me "you're buying a house from Ratbag+Bumface EA's aren't you, we get this regularly" Just to give them the benefit of the doubt I asked her if it'd ever taken months to do, she said "not once, in the 23 years I've worked here."

So I rang Ratbag+Bumface - please tell the vendor it doesn't take months, it'll be about a week. I've just got off the phone with the council so hopefully that'll reassure her a little. Ratbag+Bumface said they lied to me to get my business! :eek:

I wish there was a "name and shame" page on here, they really take the biscuit imo.

SmashedAvacado

Phoning to find out how long searches are taking always works.
The reality on most deals is that buyers don't put their lawyers in funds and lawyers are slow to get them done. That's not always the EA's fault

The typical genuine delay on all deals is the mortgage offer following survey. This can take a few weeks because firstly the survey needs to be booked, then the surveyor needs to provide valuation details to lender, then the lender needs to issue the offer.

The other thing can be the management information for leasehold property. if you are selling leasehold property it is worth calling the management company and asking them if they provide a management pack to solicitors and getting details of the cost (so you can put your conveyancer in funds to pay it) and who to ask for it. That can save some time.

YoungBlueEyes

Yeah our house is still on the market at our EA's suggestion, until our buyers are sorted.

It'll hopefully move quite quickly once the wageslip issue is satisfied. They've had their survey etc done, so this is more of a pause than a stop and restart (please god!)

ETA Thanks everyone for your replies