Unsure what to do!

ashleighduguid

Hi Everyone,

My partner and I are purchasing a house. Long story short we had our offer accepted on a chain free, vacant property at the beginning of September and we received our mortgage offer on 14th September. 

We didn’t receive the draft contract until beginning of November (which we signed and sent back at this time) as the vendors hadn’t returned their paperwork to their solicitor until this time. Our solicitor raised the enquiries on the 6th November. All of our searches are back and our surveys have been completed (this was done by the end of October) and we have signed the mortgage deed. 
 

The vendor had only just returned their signed contract yesterday and today we have been told that they still haven’t replied to any enquiries.

My partner and I are at a loss at what to do? It has been exactly 5 months that our offer was accepted, 2 months since the enquiries were raised and we have started losing hope that we will ever get this property. We are tempted to give them an ultimatum but need to know that we aren’t being irrational first. 

Thanks for reading!

Doozergirl

You're not being irrational. 

Anyone keen would have replies back within a few days at most.  5 months with no chain, being held up by the vendor?   Not acceptable.  The pace should be dictated by the buyer's progress.   

numbercruncher8

What is their delay? Have they got somewhere lined up?
An ultimatum is only useful if you can afford to follow through with it. So are there other places that work just as well for you? If not then it's probably better waiting around.

Turtle

I fear this is the positions we're going to be in. Our solicitors requested draft contracts on 2 December and they've still not received the paperwork. I know we've had Christmas, but this seem unacceptable to me. Ours is a probate sale with no chain our end either. The executor is apparently experienced but I'm getting very annoyed about how long this is taking. Our sols and EA have chased but still nothing is happening. It's really very frustrating.

Doozergirl

Turtle said:

I fear this is the positions we're going to be in. Our solicitors requested draft contracts on 2 December and they've still not received the paperwork. I know we've had Christmas, but this seem unacceptable to me. Ours is a probate sale with no chain our end either. The executor is apparently experienced but I'm getting very annoyed about how long this is taking. Our sols and EA have chased but still nothing is happening. It's really very frustrating.

Has probate been granted? 

ashleighduguid

@numbercruncher8 no real delay. Just ridiculously slow at doing anything. 

ashleighduguid

@Turtle ours has been through probate too. I’m not even excited about it anymore, they have just completely ruined the whole experience for us.

hazyjo

I always try to look at the whole picture, not how long each individual bit takes. I wouldn't have expected you to complete within 4 months (taking Christmas and Covid into account). It's only been 4 months now (although you say 5?).

Vacant doesn't always mean quick. Can be quite the opposite if there's no chain and they're not living in the property as there's not always the same incentive.

Good luck.

MysteryMe

If it's  probate sale then it will take longer. That's an important piece of information you left out of the OP.  The executors in all likelihood will have no real knowledge of the property to know the answers to whatever queries you have and it may be they are also having to consult with beneficiaries etc.  They should of course be giving you some kind of response, even if it is only to say they don't know the answers to what is being asked of them so just having silence is annoying I agree.

Doozergirl

MysteryMe said:

If it's  probate sale then it will take longer. That's an important piece of information you left out of the OP.  The executors in all likelihood will have no real knowledge of the property to know the answers to whatever queries you have and it may be they are also having to consult with beneficiaries etc.  They should of course be giving you some kind of response, even if it is only to say they don't know the answers to what is being asked of them so just having silence is annoying I agree.

It's really important!  If probate hasn't been granted then any movement would be a surprise as it puts you in the position of spending money with no definitive end in sight. 

I've been involved in two probate purchases and the client ended up pulling out of both.  One after 6 months, one after 10 with no movement.  

ashleighduguid

Probate was granted just under a year ago. There have been times where the beneficiaries all needed to sign paperwork which is completely understandable hence some of the delays. We’re not really too worried about that. What we are struggling to understand is why it’s taken so long for them to answer the enquiries? The beneficiaries lived in the house for about 25 years and the enquiries all seem straight forward so unsure as to why it’s taking so long.