Problems & Delays Buying A House

pinkteapot

So:

• The seller's new solicitor started work somewhere around the start of September.
• Your conveyancer (at the same solicitors) changed somewhere between your posts on 18th September and 28th October.

It's correct that the process pretty much started over from scratch when the solicitors changed, so you've only been going for about 2 months.

Try phoning your solicitor rather than emailing - ours is very slow to reply to emails and doesn't reply very usefully. She's much better on the phone.

Start getting pushier with the EA and say you're becoming concerned that the seller isn't serious about selling and you'll be keeping an eye on what new properties come to the market. Their sales progressors should be chasing both solicitors regularly and this might give them a bit of a kick up the rear.

Thrugelmir

notroubleclubber wrote: »

Ive asked for an exchange date but keep getting fobbed off.

Until the times is right. Dates won't be discussed.

Hutch100uk

Hi there, all of this sounds par for the course tbh. I'm not sure why you would send the deposit before all queries had been completed? You should only pay the deposit when everything is done and your solicitor sends you a final 'statement of account'. Did you receive that?
Solicitors will often say they didn't receive things when they did and vice versa. Often they have email backlogs so only work through the oldest first!
My solicitor was good at communicating and used to copy me in on all enquiries raised and responses received. That way I could see what was still outstanding.
I started my process mid-june and exchanged 2 weeks ago, ready for completion on Friday. So its taken 4.5 months!

Mutton_Geoff

notroubleclubber wrote: »

The estate agents mortgage broker

First mistake.

notroubleclubber wrote: »

The estate agent then recommended a conveyancer

Second mistake.


I hope the rest of the process goes smoothly for you but I wish people would be more diligent in their first purchase and not assume that the agent is the best source of recommendations. There are hundreds of posts cautioning against that here.

Tiglet2

notroubleclubber wrote: »

Tiglet2 - u may want to recheck my post.
Its now november - this all started in july and still ongoing.
Solicitors were changed months and months ago

Apologies, didn't read the date on the top of the post.

However, it hasn't been going on since July. You stated contracts were received around 11th September and are now not sure if enquiries have been answered or not and whether there are any outstanding enquiries that are awaited. You advised you were going on holiday at the end of October and sent your deposit so the solicitor could exchange in your absence. However, nothing in your post suggests that the solicitor was ready to exchange while you were away, as they were still waiting on enquiries. You have been fobbed off when pressed for an exchange date, because they were not ready to exchange. You haven't answered my query regarding whether you are purchasing the share that is being sold or are you purchasing a larger share. A larger share will mean more work and a delay. No chain either side merely means you are not waiting on other purchasers/sellers, but has nothing to do with your own transaction.

I would still suggest that your conveyancing is still not ready.

notroubleclubber

Thanks for the replies
Answers for some questions:
Im a first time buyer - never been involved in anything like this so not sure what to expect so maybe my time scale is not really relevant considering.

I am buying the sellers share - no extra.

I sent the deposit as i was under the impression from my solicitor that enquiries were received while i was on holiday (as advised by EA as he had completed these with the seller directly in his office before seller left the country) and therefore everything ready my end to exchange.

My SO has now replied saying enquiries are not completed properly with things missing and HA needs to respond to enquiries too even though when i spoke to HA they hadnt received any. They were also waiting on mortgage paperwork which my SO has also not sent according to to HA.

Now i get a bounce back email from my SO saying shes going on holiday in a few days for two weeks!Really frustrating!! Again communication isnt great so unsure if i now have to wait till my SO is back or they would assign me to someone else temporarily.

Just frustrating thinking we are going forward hoping we would be at exchange and still not and now SO going away! I know its probably me being impatient. I need to move out of parents as they want to sell up and downsize but they cant do this until im out and yet need to be out asap due to parents dilema (complicated story bout parents but basically i need to be out of theres asap as they need to sell theirs by feb)

SO is solicitor
HA housing association

Tiglet2

My advice, do not believe anything the EA tells you. For a start they are working for the seller, not you.
The EA is not party to the legal work now being done by the solicitors, therefore the EA will have absolutely no idea whether enquiries are answered or not. The EA may have sat with the seller assisting with responses to enquiries, but those are only the enquiries sent to the seller. There will be other enquiries sent to the housing association as well as legal enquiries for the seller's solicitor to answer and possibly other points of note to be advised to your lender. The EA will not know if any of these enquiries (and this includes the enquiries he assisted the seller with) are answered satisfactorily. Neither will he know how long it will take to get those satisfactory replies. In short, the EA liaises up and down the chain and he is a go-between with all parties but as he sees no documentation/evidence, he actually doesn't know what's happening at all. This is why some EAs like to stir things up to try and get responses by accusing one and then the other of not doing something. The only accurate information you will receive will be from your solicitor.

I know it's frustrating that your solicitor is away on annual leave, but there will be a team of people working on your file and another solicitor to oversee the work. However, there are times when they are waiting to receive responses from third parties and the work comes to a standstill while replies are awaited. Solicitors do take holidays as they are fully entitled to as of course you did.

notroubleclubber

I understand they take holidays - just the lack of comms to say they were going to is frustrating lol.

The EA has also been on holiday for a week too and myself so i understand. I was just frustrated that i am not told whos working and who to contact while the SO is away.

Just lack of comms is my main bug bear and being told different things which just confuses matters for me - i am thinking we are further along than what we are and when i find out that we arent that far along is just down heartening.
Also knowing people going through the same thing and having a chain of 4 or 5 people and yet started later than us and then near completion is annoying too especially considering the house i am buying is empty, i am ready to move and its just all this waiting for someone to pull their finger out is just unfair

Tiglet2

Solicitors can't let every client know that they are taking time off. Many of them have over 150 live cases at any one time - it wouldn't be practical and would take away valuable time from actually doing the work, not to mention the fuss some clients would make when given this information. I can just about keep up with the work, the emails/letters and phone calls without adding additional work to my day in letting clients know that I'm about to take a holiday. I have an out of office response to any emails and a redirect email address and that's as far as it goes.

Unfortunately unless you are paying £££ for a top notch solicitor with only a few live cases, lack of communication is one of the things most complained about. The solicitor will often only update you when there is actual progress to report, otherwise it's a waste of their time reporting nothing. Clients don't understand how long some things take and solicitors do need to better manage their clients' expectations of timescales. It always takes longer than you think.

Unfortunately you cannot compare your case to other cases. A chain or empty property doesn't necessarily mean delays. If the property being sold has a good title, is freehold and doesn't have extensions and alterations and is mortgage free then it is straight forward. Your purchase is leasehold with shared ownership, a management company/housing association - all of which slows the process down.


You are being told different things because you are listening to too many people. The only person working for you and can accurately provide you with updates is your solicitor.

jamesperrett

Tiglet2 wrote: »

Unfortunately unless you are paying £££ for a top notch solicitor with only a few live cases, lack of communication is one of the things most complained about. The solicitor will often only update you when there is actual progress to report, otherwise it's a waste of their time reporting nothing. Clients don't understand how long some things take and solicitors do need to better manage their clients' expectations of timescales. It always takes longer than you think.

I think solicitors are often to blame for marketing themselves as highly responsive and communicative in order to get your business and then they go silent as soon as they've been instructed. I'm currently involved in a purchase where my solicitors said that I'd be set up with an ID for their case tracking system as soon as they received my instruction. It actually took them 5 weeks to do this and they only seem to do anything when I email them. I know they've been sitting on some papers for a week before my email without actually doing anything with them. This was a local firm too - although they seem to act more like a conveyancing warehouse.