New to selling; how much further do we have to go to complete?

crazyoldmaurice

We are selling to a FTB and we have no chain. We heard on Friday that our buyers searches came back, I asked our solicitor when their solicitor applied for the them but my solicitor didn't answer this and only said they had just heard back from chasing them that they were done.

We replied to some enquiries about 3 weeks ago. Our solicitor said they aimed to have sent back their part of the enquiries by early this week so I'm hoping they have been sent. Last night we received the contract and TR1 form to get witnessed and signed which we have done this morning and posted off back to our solicitors.

I have asked my solicitor quite a few times now to clarify the process and what still needs to be done/when we can look at exchange and completion and they have avoided answering a few times and aren't great at replying too quickly (I'm guessing they are super busy!)

Desperate to sell as have had the sale fall through twice previously since Jan!

crazyoldmaurice

Oh and the mortgage offer came about 3/4 weeks ago 

FinallyStoppedLurking

Things that need to be in place before exchange:
Full mortgage offer
All searches in
All enquiries answered
Both parties agree completion date
Both parties signed contract

As it stands it sounds like you are potentially close but equally things could still drag out. The searches returning may create additional enquiries that needs answering. Might be worth asking the estate agents to liaise with the buyers about potential completion dates. 

purple_reign

If all the surveys and searches are satisfactory I imagine you are close to completion now...the next steps are to agree a date and proceed with that. I understand your frustration with solicitors and the buying/selling process in general, it's an anxious time. Good luck with your sale going forwards. 

greatcrested

It always amazes me that people embark on this complex, financially and emotionally huge process, without first researching and understanding it.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/buying-and-selling-a-home-for-dummies/melanie-bien/9780470994481

Sorry - a bit late for the link I suspect!

crazyoldmaurice

greatcrested said:

It always amazes me that people embark on this complex, financially and emotionally huge process, without first researching and understanding it.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/buying-and-selling-a-home-for-dummies/melanie-bien/9780470994481

Sorry - a bit late for the link I suspect!

With 3 kids 5 and under including a breastfed baby and no grand parents to help with child care for even an hour, I'm honestly lucky to even wash my hair twice a week or have a poo in peace, let alone sit and read a book!

I researched the basic process before we put it on the market in Jan, but having never sold before and not knowing if anything else would crop up in the process I hadn't heard of i just wanted to know how much longer we likely have to wait if all standard. But thanks.

bec820

Crazyoldmaurice
3 young kids here also but we are the first time buyers and completing on Friday!
Are you in touch personally with your buyers at all? For us in a chain of 3 I think we have been quite lucky with the timescale? (exactly 3 months from offer accepted to completion date)
I have been phoning the solicitors several times a week since the beginning I suppose but also we bumped into our sellers quite early on in the process and exchanged numbers and I feel that has really sped things up as we have kept each other informed with the stages we are at rather than always going through the solicitor. 
I would say keep hassling them, (if you can find the time!) good luck 

badger09

bec820 said:

Crazyoldmaurice
3 young kids here also but we are the first time buyers and completing on Friday!
Are you in touch personally with your buyers at all? For us in a chain of 3 I think we have been quite lucky with the timescale? (exactly 3 months from offer accepted to completion date)
I have been phoning the solicitors several times a week since the beginning I suppose but also we bumped into our sellers quite early on in the process and exchanged numbers and I feel that has really sped things up as we have kept each other informed with the stages we are at rather than always going through the solicitor. 
I would say keep hassling them, (if you can find the time!) good luck 

I understand you're anxious to keep things moving quickly, as am I,12 weeks into our process. BUT phoning your solicitor several times a week since the beginning - really? Do you realise that every time your solicitor stops what they are doing to answer your phone call, it delays both yours & everyone else's transactions that they are trying to deal with. I'm honestly very surprised your solicitor has continued to take your calls.

I agree that keeping in touch with your seller can help. I'm in contact with both our seller & our buyers and it definitely has helped keep things on track. But none of us is hassling anyone with constant requests for updates. I also understand why many people in this situation want no personal contact whatever.

Hope your completion goes to plan. 

bec820

I was honest with my solicitor from the start and said I am very anxious about this as we so nearly bought a house 2 years ago but it all went wrong just before exchange. He was the one that said to me to phone whenever I wanted and he certainly never gave me the impression that our 2 minute phonecalls were too much. I just felt that this time I would do everything I could to get us a house as I remember how distraught and depressed we all were last time, anyway hopefully tomorrow everything will be ok. 
And good luck to you with your purchase x

badger09

Thanks bec820. I wasn't having a go. Just pointing out to others - especially very impatient FTBs, that constant hassling can be counterproductive.

Our solicitor has also said it is ok to pick up the phone any time, but so far I've managed to keep it to every 2 weeks if I hadn't heard anything. Now that we've passed 2 target completion dates (set by our buyer) I am hoping to get weekly updates. To be honest, I'm not bothered about the date, I just want a realistic timeframe. We're ready to move almost immediately, subject to removal companies' availability, which is very limited at the moment. So stressful    

Caramac

It’s basically an impossible question to answer. We have been trying to get an indemnity policy to allow our sale to go ahead and it has been nearly four weeks so far.