Am I being too harsh?

billy2shots

I'm selling to a first time buyer and I'm buying a new build. Should be a pretty smooth process then...

We were aiming to have everything wrapped up by the end of January but unfortunately that's not going to happen now.
My phone was ringing off the hook yesterday and this morning from solicitors, estate agents and new house developers. It looks as though a local search won't be back until mid February. I paid money for the searches on December 22nd (perfectly aware that Christmas and new year slowed things down).

The developers are spitting feathers and are saying the other properties on site took a few days to return all searches and have questioned my intention to get things sorted. They have also hinted that missed 'deadlines' may cause issues with the agreed price. (Not worried as I'm sure this is a bluff).

My buyer is in tears because she was all set for a January move (her fault for jumping the gun but I think she was led on a little by others, not me).

With every part of this process I have completed things the day I receive them so have not held things up.

Now here's the thing. As I'm getting grief from up and down the chain I decided to ask my solicitor for proof that searches were requested early January as I have been told. I can then pass on this evidence to my purchase so they can see any delay is out of my hands.
The solicitor emailed to say 'I confirm I requested the search on January 8th'.
Whilst I thanked the solicitor for the quick reply I asked again for evidence to pass up and down the chain.
Another reply from solicitor said 'My confirmation is my evidence '. The email went on to say that the local search takes 4 weeks to come back.

Now I'm quite self aware and know full well that a fault of mine is taking things a step too far at times and I can be like a dog with a bone. With that in mind I'm torn between respecting the Solicitor's professionalism and honesty or taking things further and insisting on seeing evidence that this search was requested on the 8th.
4 weeks time frame would still only take us to 5th of February not the middle that has been suggested.

I have a nagging feeling that searches perhaps were not requested when I'm being told they were.
In the grand scheme of things it's going to take as long as it takes but I can't help thinking I'm being lied to by a professional that I'm paying a lot of money to.

So should I just drop it and let things play out or should I pursue evidence. Pretty sure I should just leave it alone but I'm not particularly happy being caught in the crosshairs of everybody.

[Deleted User]

There will be no benefit to chasing to see evidence and lots and lots of downsides.

But some people like a good drama, so you'll need to decide for yourself.

ACG

billy2shots wrote: »

I'm selling to a first time buyer and I'm buying a new build. Should be a pretty smooth process then...

We were aiming to have everything wrapped up by the end of December but unfortunately that's not going to happen now.
My phone was ringing off the hook yesterday and this morning from solicitors, estate agents and new house developers. It looks as though a local search won't be back until mid February. I paid money for the searches on December 22nd (perfectly aware that Christmas and new year slowed things down).

The developers are spitting feathers and are saying the other properties on site took a few days to return all searches and have questioned my intention to get things sorted. They have also hinted that missed 'deadlines' may cause issues with the agreed price. (Not worried as I'm sure this is a bluff).

My buyer is in tears because she was all set for a January move (her fault for jumping the gun but I think she was led on a little by others, not me).

With every part of this process I have completed things the day I receive them so have not held things up.

Now here's the thing. As I'm getting grief from up and down the chain I decided to ask my solicitor for proof that searches were requested early January as I have been told. I can then pass on this evidence to my purchase so they can see any delay is out of my hands.
The solicitor emailed to say 'I confirm I requested the search on January 8th'.
Whilst I thanked the solicitor for the quick reply I asked again for evidence to pass up and down the chain.
Another reply from solicitor said 'My confirmation is my evidence '. The email went on to say that the local search takes 4 weeks to come back.

Now I'm quite self aware and know full well that a fault of mine is taking things a step too far at times and I can be like a dog with a bone. With that in mind I'm torn between respecting the Solicitor's professionalism and honesty or taking things further and insisting on seeing evidence that this search was requested on the 8th.
4 weeks time frame would still only take us to 5th of February not the middle that has been suggested.

I have a nagging feeling that searches perhaps were not requested when I'm being told they were.
In the grand scheme of things it's going to take as long as it takes but I can't help thinking I'm being lied to by a professional that I'm paying a lot of money to.

So should I just drop it and let things play out or should I pursue evidence. Pretty sure I should just leave it alone but I'm not particularly happy being caught in the crosshairs of everybody.

What is the problem with your solicitor showing you the proof? If someone asked me for proof I had done something I said I had done, I would fire it over without a second thought.

In saying that, I would not tell someone I had done something I had not done as that sort of thing always comes back to bite.

Why not forward on the email from the solicitor to the builder and see what they come back with?

As you say, shouting and screaming will not change anything so they have a choice of putting it back on the market and starting from scratch or sticking with you who has a mortgage offer and searches 2 weeks away.

p00hsticks

billy2shots wrote: »

We were aiming to have everything wrapped up by the end of December but unfortunately that's not going to happen now.

billy2shots wrote: »

I paid money for the searches on December 22nd (perfectly aware that Christmas and new year slowed things down).

I can't see how you were ever realistically expecting to 'wrap things up' by the end of December when you are only at the stage of initiating searches on the Saturday immediately preceding Christmas Eve - chances are the payment may not even have been picked up until the New Year.

billy2shots wrote: »

4 weeks time frame would still only take us to 5th of February not the middle that has been suggested.

Add on a week to get the search results from the solicitor to you and to discuss / resolve any queries you may have with the results, and 'mid-February' sounds an appropriate term.

Personally my view is that your pursuing this is not going to help matters and is possibly just going to hinder/antagonise the various other parties involved.

billy2shots

p00hsticks wrote: »

I can't see how you were ever realistically expecting to 'wrap things up' by the end of December when you are only at the stage of initiating searches on the Saturday immediately preceding Christmas Eve - chances are the payment may not even have been picked up until the New Year.



.

Sorry I meant wrapped up by end of January. I have a sneaky suspicion you realised that.


Also getting the search results back and getting them back and discussing/resolving issues are two different things.

Beeper

My searches were ordered on 18th Dec (at least that’s what they’ve told me). I transferred my funds for the searches on 11th so I’m a bit peeved about the delay but still waiting for the results of one of them.

When you say wrapped up by the end of Jan do you mean complete in Jan? Is your new build built?

billy2shots

Beeper wrote: »

My searches were ordered on 18th Dec (at least that’s what they’ve told me). I transferred my funds for the searches on 11th so I’m a bit peeved about the delay but still waiting for the results of one of them.

When you say wrapped up by the end of Jan do you mean complete in Jan? Is your new build built?

Yes, the house was built when we first viewed it Nov/Dec.

G_M

Everyone expests and hopes things will move faster than they do.


Expectations are always unrealistic.


There is no point pursuing your 'proof' - your solicitor has confirmed the date he sent the searches off - if you genuinely don't believe/trust him then you should not be using him. Find a new solicior.


Simply chill. If others are jumping upand down that's their problem not yours, solong as you are doing what you need to do.


If the chain collapses, well, these things happen. There's nothing you can do about it.

babyblade41

G_M wrote: »

Everyone expests and hopes things will move faster than they do.


Expectations are always unrealistic.


There is no point pursuing your 'proof' - your solicitor has confirmed the date he sent the searches off - if you genuinely don't believe/trust him then you should not be using him. Find a new solicior.


Simply chill. If others are jumping upand down that's their problem not yours, solong as you are doing what you need to do.


If the chain collapses, well, these things happen. There's nothing you can do about it.

Sadly it really is as ruthless as this... try as we might not to put emotions in the way but prepared for every eventuality as it happens more often than you think
Jumping up and down won't progress things any quicker, be proactive but your EA should be progressing things as well

Bossypants

billy2shots wrote: »

The developers are spitting feathers and are saying the other properties on site took a few days to return all searches and have questioned my intention to get things sorted. They have also hinted that missed 'deadlines' may cause issues with the agreed price. (Not worried as I'm sure this is a bluff).

My buyer is in tears because she was all set for a January move (her fault for jumping the gun but I think she was led on a little by others, not me).

When did you accept your buyer's offer and have your offer accepted? I don't understand why they are both so upset so early in the game.

For context, in my case surveys were back and myself and my buyers were ready to start legals on our respective purchases on 17 December. We're a two house chain with me moving into empty, and so far the solicitors have all been brilliant and turning everything they get around within 24-48 hours, but we're still looking at an end of Feb completion at the earliest. I don't understand how anyone on your side could have been expecting January, unless there was some significant delay between the chain being complete and you paying for your searches?

billy2shots

Bossypants wrote: »

When did you accept your buyer's offer and have your offer accepted? I don't understand why they are both so upset so early in the game.

For context, in my case surveys were back and myself and my buyers were ready to start legals on our respective purchases on 17 December. We're a two house chain with me moving into empty, and so far the solicitors have all been brilliant and turning everything they get around within 24-48 hours, but we're still looking at an end of Feb completion at the earliest. I don't understand how anyone on your side could have been expecting January, unless there was some significant delay between the chain being complete and you paying for your searches?

We accepted an offer on ours and our buyer got her side of things underway.
By the time we had an offer accepted on our new build our buyer was almost done. 22nd December.

With a new build it's quite common to get things wrapped up in a month or so and that was the working time frame 31st January.

I couldn't care less if the process takes longer, in fact February suits me just fine.
What I'm not happy with is getting phone calls constantly from both ends because I can do absolutely nothing about the situation.
I figured providing evidence that shows things were progressing as quickly as it could, should get people off my back.
I was surprised that my solicitor was unwilling to provide me with an email or form that showed the request for searches were done early January.

I still don't mind how fast or slow things move but as I said earlier, I'm like a dog with a bone (negative attribute sometimes) and I now have doubts.