Are solicitors delaying because of COVID19 or because of another reason?

jumperabv3

Deleted_User said:

If things are at the very early stages its possible that your solicitor doesnt even have the draft contracts from the sellers solicitor.  Even the most dedicated purchase solicitor in the world cant move forward without initial contract paperwork coming from the sellers.  Maybe they are having issues getting paperwork that is in the office sent over to someone who is working from home,  maybe they are having issues doing ID checks on their clients since they arent able to meet them face to face (not all are set up for non face to face business), maybe they are doing a bit of back and forth with the sellers trying to fill in blanks on the initial paperwork. 

I have been involved in countless transactions where everyone on the buyers side is chomping at the bit to get going but the sellers side is being a bit slow so no one can get started.   Its usually sorted out by estate agents getting involved but at the moment most of them are furloughed or dealing with more urgent stuff.   

Sounds like its just a waiting game unfortunately, not a lot you can do to hurry the sellers solicitors up

They did mention they were waiting for the contract papers about a month ago, these docs were already received, they also did ID checks on the sellers already, and the sellers already signed Fittings and Content Form as well (this was done on 19 March, my solicitor forwarded it to me on 26 March). I have emailed my solicitor to ask what else is outstanding as I have no clue how this process works, I only purchased 1 property in my life, it was in 2012, and it was a new development, and things back then were not the same as now for sure.

The estate agent representing the sellers has been very active, he responds to emails very quickly and he is doing a great job, I just don't think I need to reach out to him unless you in the forum, based on your experience, would advise me to do so, then I'd shoot him a message if you think I should.

Thanks again for your help.

jumperabv3

Thrugelmir said:

Unfortunately neither Australia or New Zealand are close neighbours. Unlikely to have much influence on events elsewhere in the world either. With pandemics it's people that hold all the answers not the Government. 

Yes, I agree these countries are far away, but you can appreciate the number of deaths is low (the number of cases is not necessarily very low but the death rate is extremely low), in the UAE only 12 deaths so far, and Dubai/UAE is a place with 36-37C degrees now, it explains and shows you hot weather kills or slows down the virus, it's a fact, not an assumption, I believe countries like UAE, Australia and NZ do report their numbers accurately unlike China which can be unreliable.

NewShadow

jumperabv3 said:
it explains and shows you hot weather kills or slows down the virus, it's a fact, not an assumption...

No... It's a theory... definitely not a proven fact or something that can guaranteed to be applicable to the UK modelling for the coming months. 

Epidemiology could be the very definition of the word complicated - there are far, far too many variables to use one environmental variable as an explanation for any trend any particular country may demonstrate at any one point in the outbreak... 

Thrugelmir

jumperabv3 said:

Thrugelmir said:

Unfortunately neither Australia or New Zealand are close neighbours. Unlikely to have much influence on events elsewhere in the world either. With pandemics it's people that hold all the answers not the Government. 

Yes, I agree these countries are far away, but you can appreciate the number of deaths is low (the number of cases is not necessarily very low but the death rate is extremely low), in the UAE only 12 deaths so far, and Dubai/UAE is a place with 36-37C degrees now, it explains and shows you hot weather kills or slows down the virus, it's a fact, not an assumption, I believe countries like UAE, Australia and NZ do report their numbers accurately unlike China which can be unreliable.

The more telling factor is density of population. The slums of Mumbai are unlikely to escape likely. 

[Deleted User]

The trouble is the new normal for some may not be the new normal for others. My personal opinion is many businesses will not get through this and sadly many people will lose their jobs. I think the banks will be more wary of lending. For many landlords this will be the nail in the coffin for them after all the tax changes and they will be selling off properties. 

I dont want to pay £330k for somethinv that may be priced less next year. I dont need the BTL now - its a 5 year investment model for my son to have when he is 25 ( 20 now ) so Im just waiting, watching and seeing how we come out at the other end. Just have to wait and see 

AdrianC

jumperabv3 said:

Thrugelmir said:

Unfortunately neither Australia or New Zealand are close neighbours. Unlikely to have much influence on events elsewhere in the world either. With pandemics it's people that hold all the answers not the Government. 

Yes, I agree these countries are far away, but you can appreciate the number of deaths is low (the number of cases is not necessarily very low but the death rate is extremely low), in the UAE only 12 deaths so far, and Dubai/UAE is a place with 36-37C degrees now, it explains and shows you hot weather kills or slows down the virus, it's a fact, not an assumption, I believe countries like UAE, Australia and NZ do report their numbers accurately unlike China which can be unreliable.

Umm... I hate to introduce inconvenient things like facts, but... https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/iran/

[Deleted User]

jumperabv3 said:

Deleted_User said:

If things are at the very early stages its possible that your solicitor doesnt even have the draft contracts from the sellers solicitor.  Even the most dedicated purchase solicitor in the world cant move forward without initial contract paperwork coming from the sellers.  Maybe they are having issues getting paperwork that is in the office sent over to someone who is working from home,  maybe they are having issues doing ID checks on their clients since they arent able to meet them face to face (not all are set up for non face to face business), maybe they are doing a bit of back and forth with the sellers trying to fill in blanks on the initial paperwork. 

I have been involved in countless transactions where everyone on the buyers side is chomping at the bit to get going but the sellers side is being a bit slow so no one can get started.   Its usually sorted out by estate agents getting involved but at the moment most of them are furloughed or dealing with more urgent stuff.   

Sounds like its just a waiting game unfortunately, not a lot you can do to hurry the sellers solicitors up

They did mention they were waiting for the contract papers about a month ago, these docs were already received, they also did ID checks on the sellers already, and the sellers already signed Fittings and Content Form as well (this was done on 19 March, my solicitor forwarded it to me on 26 March). I have emailed my solicitor to ask what else is outstanding as I have no clue how this process works, I only purchased 1 property in my life, it was in 2012, and it was a new development, and things back then were not the same as now for sure.

The estate agent representing the sellers has been very active, he responds to emails very quickly and he is doing a great job, I just don't think I need to reach out to him unless you in the forum, based on your experience, would advise me to do so, then I'd shoot him a message if you think I should.

Thanks again for your help.

Definately reach out to the estate agent if they are still replying to emails.  Thats what they are there for.   Solicitors arent paid to chase people every day, they might sent an email every couple of weeks.   An estate agents main role after negotiation is sales progression and unsticking parts of the process that arent moving along.  

If you are at this stage then it might just be the local search you are waiting on (the thing you would have paid for at the start, usually £300-£400) .  Depending on area this can take 5 weeks in normal times to come back, maybe even longer at the moment.  You get a search pack and in that will be the drainage search, environmental search, sometimes a mining search, local search.  The reports are back in a week roughly apart form the local which takes ages. 
My only guess would be thats whats waiting on but best ask the estate agent to chase everyone. 

As acash buyer you can opt to ignore pretty much the whole legal process and take the risks yourself (not advised) but there might be another part of the chain that is waiting on searches so everything goes a bit slower 

When times were 'normal' a small chain would take 10-12 weeks to go through legal work.  I would add a month on at the moment at least so you are probably still a while away from being ready. 

The law firm I use has fuloughed all staff apart from 2 who are now managing the work of 12 others.  Even if yours is business as usual, it might not be for someone else in the chain. And it will only move as fast as the slowest person

jumperabv3

AdrianC said:

Umm... I hate to introduce inconvenient things like facts, but... https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/iran/

I have to disagree with this, if you google "Iran Weather" you would see 9-13C degrees there right now in Tehran, the weather in the UAE and Iran is nothing to compare, Dubai is about 2000km south of Tehran, so the fact many people are dead in Iran only justifying the difference in the weather.
I intentionally used the word "facts" because it's a fact countries with high temprature are suffering much less from the virus, it's not an assumption ... I will try to give you a benefit of the doubt by looking at numbers which a little bit favor what you were trying to reflect ... compare for instance Florida with New York, 7067 dead in NY and 371 in Florida... NJ has 1700 and summer hasn't officially even started in Florida but tempratures there are much more comfortable there - these numbers are facts, not assumptions. If there were assumptions I'd have treated it differently but NZ, OZ land, UAE, even Africa has proven the number of deaths is quite low in these locations because they don't suffer from cold weather ... now how things would move forward is still an assumption but the FACT the death rate is low in these regions is a fact, not an assumption.

jumperabv3

Deleted_User said:
An estate agents main role after negotiation is sales progression and unsticking parts of the process that arent moving along.  

Thank you very much firstly for the detailed response, it's much appreciated. I wasn't aware this is how it works, I would shoot him an email now to inquire, anyway this weekend plus today are all bank holidays so I doubt anyone would get back to me before Tuesday but I will give it a shot.

If you are at this stage then it might just be the local search you are waiting on (the thing you would have paid for at the start, usually £300-£400) .  Depending on area this can take 5 weeks in normal times to come back, maybe even longer at the moment.  You get a search pack and in that will be the drainage search, environmental search, sometimes a mining search, local search.  The reports are back in a week roughly apart form the local which takes ages. 

Yes, I believe you're right, I did pay for searches about a months ago, so I believe this is what I'm waiting for, it sounds about right.

As acash buyer you can opt to ignore pretty much the whole legal process and take the risks yourself (not advised) but there might be another part of the chain that is waiting on searches so everything goes a bit slower 

I wasn't even aware of this, so thanks for mentioning it - no, I don't think I'd take the risk even though other properties are being let in this building without troubles. The "other part of the chain" is a new development in Wales if I'm not mistaken, the sellers are planning to move to Wales and are going to buy a place from a new development, so they just need to receive the funds I'd pay them for the sale and they would use it to pay for their place, there isn't any other seller who needs a mortgage or anything as they are going to move into a new development.

When times were 'normal' a small chain would take 10-12 weeks to go through legal work.  I would add a month on at the moment at least so you are probably still a while away from being ready. 

What's the definition of a small chain?

jumperabv3

Densol said:

The trouble is the new normal for some may not be the new normal for others. My personal opinion is many businesses will not get through this and sadly many people will lose their jobs. I think the banks will be more wary of lending. For many landlords this will be the nail in the coffin for them after all the tax changes and they will be selling off properties. 

I dont want to pay £330k for somethinv that may be priced less next year. I dont need the BTL now - its a 5 year investment model for my son to have when he is 25 ( 20 now ) so Im just waiting, watching and seeing how we come out at the other end. Just have to wait and see 

I am still regarding myself a young person (under 40 years old) but I have learned in life that a crash is not something you're waiting for, many have tried to predict crashes and failed, only a few made history (e.g. George Soros). If you try to be ahead of the market you have to think and be very creative ... the same applies in some way to gambling, and no, not on a roulette where the odds are 100% stacked against you, but with sports, politics, trends - this is what analysts are doing all the times, being ahead of the market or trying to be there anyway.
The UK has cut the interest rate to 0.1% which is super low, that is only going to fuel investors because mortgages would be cheap ... and yes, at the moment things are a bit shaky and unstable, but that's why govts are doing their utmost to sustain the damages.
In England itself, about 500,000 people die every year, that is around 1,370 per day (10,000 per week), the current COVID19 numbers are producing lots of optimism and whilst many doomsayers might say things will crash - I don't think that's the case ... at least not with these numbers and not with the optimistic numbers from countries with hot weather, and that is assuming a vaccine is still miles away.

I think people would go back to work, the lockdown is not here to stay in its current form "forever" and definitely not until a vaccine is found ... just the reality is going to be pretty different, just like things before and after 9/11 were different and airports introduced more security checks etc. - it still doesn't imply real estate is a bad investment, but that's just my opinion.