Searches before draft contract

Gotkeys

Seashell517 said:

Have you asked how long searches are likely to take for the area that you're buying in? I'd be considering that when figuring out whether to order them at risk.

(I had my offer on a property accepted on Xmas eve, but conveyancer didn't work between Xmas and NY, and I received the searches and the report on them in the post today, so some places it doesn't take that long...)

Thanks, that's good to know. I think it's about 2 weeks in my area so not horrendous. More worried the vendor is a bit flakey!

Tiglet2

Can the EA check that the vendor's solicitor is sending the draft contract to the correct email address?  Might seem obvious but sometimes the draft contract gets sent to a particular person and if that person no longer works at the firm, then the email may not get read for ages and ages.

SMcGill

Worth checking how long the relevant council authority is taking on land searches. My daughter is buying in an area where the council is stating 56 working days to complete these. Especially important if you’re hoping for completion before the end of March.

Hollylyon95

Seashell517 said:

Have you asked how long searches are likely to take for the area that you're buying in? I'd be considering that when figuring out whether to order them at risk.

(I had my offer on a property accepted on Xmas eve, but conveyancer didn't work between Xmas and NY, and I received the searches and the report on them in the post today, so some places it doesn't take that long...)

Wow that’s quick! Our local authority is saying 45 working days, it’s been 9 weeks since we had our offer accepted and still no return date for the searches applied for 6 weeks ago 🥲

saajan_12

The draft contract is 99% standardised, and there's nothing really in the content that would change your decision either way. So no need to wait for that specifically. Searches should be able to start now, and you can instruct your solicitor as such. 

Having said that, the more pertinent point is whether the chain is complete - if not, then there's little point in incurring costs for searches until then, as the overall chain will have to wait until the slowest link... likely the transaction who started last. If the chain breaks then you would lose that cost (though not huge either). So the question is really one for your EA, as to whether the chain has formed. The slowness of the draft contract may or may not be a symptom of this - it might be part of general stalling, but then its an odd thing to specifically withhold as it doesn't cost the seller much and they'll have to send it sooner or later. 

yllop1101

I had asked my solicitor if she could do this as we waited 12 weeks for some sort in contact from the vendors solicitors. She said she could but the risks are A- wasting money in searches if the vendors aren't serious and haven't even instructed their solicitors and B- vendor should check the title deeds before the solicitor passes them on, to confirm the boundaries on the plan correspond to the property.
Based on the risks I decided to wait. 

davidmcn

yllop1101 said:

and B- vendor should check the title deeds before the solicitor passes them on, to confirm the boundaries on the plan correspond to the property.

You really don't need to check them before ordering the searches though, in the 99% of cases where it's obvious what property you're talking about and what its boundaries are.

Gotkeys

saajan_12 said:

The draft contract is 99% standardised, and there's nothing really in the content that would change your decision either way. So no need to wait for that specifically. Searches should be able to start now, and you can instruct your solicitor as such. 

Having said that, the more pertinent point is whether the chain is complete - if not, then there's little point in incurring costs for searches until then, as the overall chain will have to wait until the slowest link... likely the transaction who started last. If the chain breaks then you would lose that cost (though not huge either). So the question is really one for your EA, as to whether the chain has formed. The slowness of the draft contract may or may not be a symptom of this - it might be part of general stalling, but then its an odd thing to specifically withhold as it doesn't cost the seller much and they'll have to send it sooner or later. 

Thanks, that's really helpful. The chain isn't complete, but our sellers have said they'll break the chain. I know to take that with a pinch of salt, but the house has been on the market for a long time, needs a lot of work, and hadn't had any interest. I'm hoping they won't want to lose us as buyers.