Selling Flat - long time to exchange

ZimDee

Hi All. I am selling my flat (first time seller) and the memorandum of sale was sent / received at the begining of September 2018 and there has still been no mention of an exchange date from the buyers side despite me asking my solicitor to follow up with the buyers solicitors a number of times. Is it normal to be this long (nearly 5 months) without an exchange date being mentioned , I believe it is chain free on both sides. Any suggestions of what I can do to speed up the process. Thanks and apologies if this is on another thread but could not find one.

eddddy

Normally your estate agent will 'progress the sale' - i.e. chase up the buyer (assuming the agent is paid on completion).

Solicitors don't really do 'sales progression' or chasing.

So contact your agent and ask them to give the buyer a call, to find out what's happening.

pphillips

Call the estate agent and get them to chase it up - it's what your paying them for. If that doesn't work, a more drastic approach is that you can threaten to put the property back on the market if the buyer doesn't get a move on.

badger09

ZimDee wrote: »

Hi All. I am selling my flat (first time seller) and the memorandum of sale was sent / received at the begining of September 2018 and there has still been no mention of an exchange date from the buyers side despite me asking my solicitor to follow up with the buyers solicitors a number of times. Is it normal to be this long (nearly 5 months) without an exchange date being mentioned , I believe it is chain free on both sides. Any suggestions of what I can do to speed up the process. Thanks and apologies if this is on another thread but could not find one.

When did you complete the Property Information Form and Fitting & Contents Form? Were there any follow up questions from your buyers? If so, when did you answer them?

Have your buyers had a survey done? When?

In other words, what was the latest thing to happen, and when was that?

You say you believe it is chain free on both sides. What exactly do you mean by that?

Most straightforward sales would have completed by now, so something is delaying yours.

ZimDee

badger09 wrote: »

When did you complete the Property Information Form and Fitting & Contents Form? Were there any follow up questions from your buyers? If so, when did you answer them?

Have your buyers had a survey done? When? Yes the surveys have been done

In other words, what was the latest thing to happen, and when was that? The last enquiry I had was just before Xmas - asking if I have complied with the lease

You say you believe it is chain free on both sides. What exactly do you mean by that? Buyer is not selling a property and I'm not buying another property

Most straightforward sales would have completed by now, so something is delaying yours.

. I have been asking what the delay is but not getting any response