Out of the loop - normal?

Jd843

Hi
I had an offer accepted on a house nearly 3 months ago, and I think we should be ready to exchange soon, but I’m not really sure to be honest as I feel a little out of the loop.

I am a FTB so I don’t know if my experience of feeling like this is fairly standard or not. Would be interested to hear people’s thoughts on the below.
1. My solicitor has never given me any information about the chain - I had to find this out from the EA (how many people were above us in the chain). I still don’t know anything more than this, like how close everyone else in the chain is to exchanging contracts.
2. More generally I just haven’t had much info from the solicitor about the process. When the property info forms came back they said they’d be raising enquiries with the other side - I don’t know what these were or what the outcome was. 
3. The sellers’ solicitor seemingly doesn’t reply to queries. Basically every time I’ve asked my solicitor anything she’s said they are waiting to hear back from the sellers’ solicitor. They don’t reply to emails, and they don’t answer the phone. 

4. Our final search result came back a week ago, but I haven’t heard anything since then. Should things have progressed by now? Shouldn’t we be discussing exchange dates (assuming the people above us in the chain are in a similar position but who knows if they are!)

Thanks

tigerlily74

Yeah you probably should be. You should ask your solicitor if it is a good time to agree exchange and completion dates and then get on the phone to your EA.

hazyjo

In reply to your questions.

1. My solicitor didn't really know either. They deal with the buyer's solicitor and the seller's. They don't really need to be in touch with others or they'd be bypassing the middle parties. Any queries about the chain can be directed to the EA.

2. Not really your solicitor's job to explain the process to you. Anything you're unclear on, ask. Better still, do some research online or from a book (not meant to be rude, it really is the best option! There are lots of very helpful books out there! You should understand the process before buying property!).

3. Pretty common. Especially at the moment with lots wfh or staff being furloughed.

4. You can only go as fast as the slowest link. Speak with your EA. You really should've found out about the chain early on as it should be complete before anyone started the buying/ selling process. Are you 100% sure it is?

Presuming everyone's worked to the same speed, it shouldn't be too much longer. If however the chain was only formed a month or so back, it will obviously take longer (unless anyone's happy to break it).

princeofpounds

Conveyancing solicitors are notorious for poor communication with clients. Just read this recent thread for some experiences like yours:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6218475/solicitor-reprimanded-me-for-asking-for-an-update-was-i-in-the-wrong#latest

1. Under the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol, your solicitor is meant to request the status of the chain from your vendor's solicitor and inform you of it. But they clearly can't be bothered or they haven't actually been told yet. If this was the only problem, I'd suggest you forget about it, as you and your solicitor can only go on what you are told anyway.

2. Many enquiries are utterly routine and will be of no interest to you unless a surprising answer is received. Your solicitor will discuss any findings from enquiries with you that need discussing. Sometimes that will raise further enquiries. If there is anything in particular you think the solicitor should consider then you can notify them about it. Usually that's things that you might only see on a physical visit to the property e.g. the boundary doesn't match the title plan, or there's a gate leading to a footpath, or whatevery.

3. This may well be true. Most of what your solicitor is doing is sending off a bunch of requests to the vendor's solicitor and a bunch of third party authorities. They then just have to wait until they hear back - they typically only really look hard at your file once they have all the information they need, though they may skim through as they receive things. The vendor's solicitor will be working on a few dozen cases minimum and may delay getting back, particularly so if they need to ask the vendor to provide historic documentation, sometimes that needs to be dug up again and that all takes time. Especially as solicitors are still wedded to snail mail for legal reasons (supposedly).

4. No. You are not in a position to discuss exchange dates with any real conviction until enquiries are back AND satisfactory. It would be like trying to organise a wedding date where you've booked the vicar but not the church.

Tiglet2

Jd843 said:

Hi
I had an offer accepted on a house nearly 3 months ago, and I think we should be ready to exchange soon, but I’m not really sure to be honest as I feel a little out of the loop.

I am a FTB so I don’t know if my experience of feeling like this is fairly standard or not. Would be interested to hear people’s thoughts on the below.
1. My solicitor has never given me any information about the chain - I had to find this out from the EA (how many people were above us in the chain). I still don’t know anything more than this, like how close everyone else in the chain is to exchanging contracts.
2. More generally I just haven’t had much info from the solicitor about the process. When the property info forms came back they said they’d be raising enquiries with the other side - I don’t know what these were or what the outcome was. 
3. The sellers’ solicitor seemingly doesn’t reply to queries. Basically every time I’ve asked my solicitor anything she’s said they are waiting to hear back from the sellers’ solicitor. They don’t reply to emails, and they don’t answer the phone. 

4. Our final search result came back a week ago, but I haven’t heard anything since then. Should things have progressed by now? Shouldn’t we be discussing exchange dates (assuming the people above us in the chain are in a similar position but who knows if they are!)

Thanks

1.  Your solicitor won't know anything about the chain or how far along anyone is within the chain, not directly attached to your transaction.  It's not their job to do this.  They liaise with the solicitors acting for your buyer and your seller.  It is the EAs job to find out about the length of the chain and to liaise up and down it to find out what progress is being made and how far along everyone is.
2.  Enquiries are made in relation to the documentation received.  Some of the information is provided by the seller, some by third parties, some by the solicitor.  When your solicitor has received responses to the majority of enquiries, they will "report" to you with their findings, which is basically a letter setting out all the information about the property and enclosing copies of relevant paperwork, i.e. property information form, fixtures & fittings, the searches, a copy of the enquiries and the replies, copies of the title documents etc.  Also enclosed with the report are various documents for you to sign and return, i.e. contract, mortgage deed etc.
3.  The transaction can't proceed without acceptable replies to enquiries.
4.  The searches are usually sent with the "report" together with their explanation of any specific areas revealed within the searches.  Solicitors don't usually send things to you piecemeal.  Everything is collated together for the report.  It can be quite lengthy, but important that you read it.  Once you have received the report and  you have signed and sent back the various documents, you can probably start discussing dates, providing there are only a few items still to deal with.  

Jd843

princeofpounds said:

Conveyancing solicitors are notorious for poor communication with clients. Just read this recent thread for some experiences like yours:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6218475/solicitor-reprimanded-me-for-asking-for-an-update-was-i-in-the-wrong#latest

1. Under the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol, your solicitor is meant to request the status of the chain from your vendor's solicitor and inform you of it. But they clearly can't be bothered or they haven't actually been told yet. If this was the only problem, I'd suggest you forget about it, as you and your solicitor can only go on what you are told anyway.

2. Many enquiries are utterly routine and will be of no interest to you unless a surprising answer is received. Your solicitor will discuss any findings from enquiries with you that need discussing. Sometimes that will raise further enquiries. If there is anything in particular you think the solicitor should consider then you can notify them about it. Usually that's things that you might only see on a physical visit to the property e.g. the boundary doesn't match the title plan, or there's a gate leading to a footpath, or whatevery.

3. This may well be true. Most of what your solicitor is doing is sending off a bunch of requests to the vendor's solicitor and a bunch of third party authorities. They then just have to wait until they hear back - they typically only really look hard at your file once they have all the information they need, though they may skim through as they receive things. The vendor's solicitor will be working on a few dozen cases minimum and may delay getting back, particularly so if they need to ask the vendor to provide historic documentation, sometimes that needs to be dug up again and that all takes time. Especially as solicitors are still wedded to snail mail for legal reasons (supposedly).

4. No. You are not in a position to discuss exchange dates with any real conviction until enquiries are back AND satisfactory. It would be like trying to organise a wedding date where you've booked the vicar but not the church.

Thanks that’s really helpful. 

On point 2, that’s reassuring. I did wonder if it was the case that they’d only get in touch if something was up, but I have a tendency to assume that no news is bad news!

On point 3, I’m fairly sure it is true and not just an excuse. It just makes it frustrating as I know there’s no point chasing my solicitor as she’s done what she can, so all I can do is wait.

Jd843

hazyjo said:

In reply to your questions.

1. My solicitor didn't really know either. They deal with the buyer's solicitor and the seller's. They don't really need to be in touch with others or they'd be bypassing the middle parties. Any queries about the chain can be directed to the EA.

2. Not really your solicitor's job to explain the process to you. Anything you're unclear on, ask. Better still, do some research online or from a book (not meant to be rude, it really is the best option! There are lots of very helpful books out there! You should understand the process before buying property!).

3. Pretty common. Especially at the moment with lots wfh or staff being furloughed.

4. You can only go as fast as the slowest link. Speak with your EA. You really should've found out about the chain early on as it should be complete before anyone started the buying/ selling process. Are you 100% sure it is?

Presuming everyone's worked to the same speed, it shouldn't be too much longer. If however the chain was only formed a month or so back, it will obviously take longer (unless anyone's happy to break it).

Thanks for your reply.

On point 2, not sure if you’ve misunderstood what I was saying. I didn’t expect the solicitor to explain how the process works generally. What I meant was the solicitor hasn’t kept me updated on how our specific case has progressed, if that makes sense. I understand a lot happens “behind the scenes” and that there’s a lot of waiting around - I just have a tendency to assume not hearing anything = nothing is happening!
Point 3 - I find it hard to understand why working from home would make things much harder/slower for a solicitor. You can reply to an email just the same at home, and redirect your phone calls. Also, this specific solicitor has quite a bad reputation in the communication department even from pre-COVID times.
Point 4 - I am sure the chain is complete, unless the estate agent has lied to me... 😬 actually I think the sellers themselves confirmed it last time I went to view the house.

Thrugelmir

Jd843 said:

hazyjo said:

In reply to your questions.

1. My solicitor didn't really know either. They deal with the buyer's solicitor and the seller's. They don't really need to be in touch with others or they'd be bypassing the middle parties. Any queries about the chain can be directed to the EA.

2. Not really your solicitor's job to explain the process to you. Anything you're unclear on, ask. Better still, do some research online or from a book (not meant to be rude, it really is the best option! There are lots of very helpful books out there! You should understand the process before buying property!).

3. Pretty common. Especially at the moment with lots wfh or staff being furloughed.

4. You can only go as fast as the slowest link. Speak with your EA. You really should've found out about the chain early on as it should be complete before anyone started the buying/ selling process. Are you 100% sure it is?

Presuming everyone's worked to the same speed, it shouldn't be too much longer. If however the chain was only formed a month or so back, it will obviously take longer (unless anyone's happy to break it).

Point 4 - I am sure the chain is complete, unless the estate agent has lied to me... 😬 actually I think the sellers themselves confirmed it last time I went to view the house.

Remember the people at the top of the chain will most likely be behind everyone else in the process. As they started last and you first. That's the nature of building property chains.   Resulting in long periods when nothing appears to be happening. 

Stay in contact with the EA.They should have a handle on broadly what's happening. 

Next time you move. You'll have a FTB yapping at your heels. 

princeofpounds

Jd843 said:

On point 3, I’m fairly sure it is true and not just an excuse. It just makes it frustrating as I know there’s no point chasing my solicitor as she’s done what she can, so all I can do is wait.

What you can do is update the EA on where you are in the process, and make it clear what you and your solicitor are waiting on. They will then (if they are good at sales progression) go and check in with the vendor and ensure that they are aware of what balls are in their court. If the vendor thinks they are waiting on something from your end, you'll hear it back. And then both vendor and buyer chivvy their solicitors along if it turns out something is needed that they haven't been notified about.

Thrugelmir makes a good point, that this process will be cascading up through the chain. With letters taking a couple of days to arrive, and people taking some time to reply, the timing builds up quite quickly.