Help with house buy taking far too long!

JessiceHope03

We put an offer in to buy a property back in October and are still waiting for a date to exchange and move in. My solicitors are rubbish and update me with the bare minimum as I call them everyday; the most recent was the top of the chain are still waiting on enquiries. So I speak quite regularly with the estate agent as they have a lot of insight but have been promised each week it will be the following and then it doesn’t happen.
The chain is relatively small with us at the bottom as first time buyers, my vendor, the property they’re buying and then my vendors parents at the top (which is an empty property). So my vendor has a lot of exposure to what’s going on! 

We’re now in a situation where we need to sign for an extension or new rental property if it doesn’t happen next Friday which will be for a minimum of 6 months which we obviously cannot afford if we then complete a week later. 

Is there anymore I can do to push this forwards or do I just need to wait? My other concern is my mortgage offer runs out soon as it has taken so long! 

I’m tempted to start looking at other properties to scare them slightly? 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Browntoa

You have to wait 

The whole house buying process is slow at the moment , searches  registry etc are all taking an eternity 

Stop bothering your solicitor every day , there is absolutely no point in that and probably costing you money to deal with it 

Doozergirl

You don't need to sign for an extension or a new property at all. 

Your contract automatically turns to a periodic tenancy, which will suit your perfectly.  You can give a rental month's notice to quit. 

Only a tenant or a court can end a tenancy, not a landlord.  

Maybe don't call your solicitors every day if you are actually ready to exchange and complete.  Pick on the estate agent instead if the delays are further up the chain.  Your solicitor can't do anything about it.  They will
also just get tired of you.  If they were chasing every transaction every day over things they can't control, they'd never get any work done.  There's some at the EA employed and paid to try and get progress within the chain.  

What exactly is being waited for? 

Perhaps go for another viewing on your property.  Yes, your vendors will have a lot of information if they have family forming a sandwich of part of the chain.  Whether they're sharing that info is another thing.  It might also be that you don't understand what's involved in this particular chain.  

It's not a probate property at the top?  Or one involving POA or deputyship?  Where are the parents? 

elsien

Seconded about your tenancy. Just let it roll over. 

AdrianC

JessiceHope03 said:

We’re now in a situation where we need to sign for an extension or new rental property if it doesn’t happen next Friday which will be for a minimum of 6 months

No, you don't. Just let your tenancy go to periodic.

TBG01

JessiceHope03 said:

 My solicitors are rubbish and update me with the bare minimum as I call them everyday; the most recent was the top of the chain are still waiting on enquiries. 

Do you call your mechanic every 5 mins to see what they've done on or do you wait for a call from them with an update? 

teachfast

TBG01 said:

JessiceHope03 said:

 My solicitors are rubbish and update me with the bare minimum as I call them everyday; the most recent was the top of the chain are still waiting on enquiries. 

Do you call your mechanic every 5 mins to see what they've done on or do you wait for a call from them with an update? 

No but if they kept the car for ages and failed to communicate with me a daily call/visit would invariably ensue. 

OP, contrary to what most posters will tell you here, you simply do have to chase solicitors every day and be assertive. They have too much work that they seem to have undercharged for so they do the last thing someone sat on them for. Don't be put off by conveyancers/solicitors or their family on this forum trying to tell you otherwise. It also keeps you in the loop with dated communication so if you need to complain later on (which you probably will) you have a good timeline. 

TBG01

Can chasing work both ways then? If we send a client an email can we then chase them up 5 minutes later for a response? 

If the client then tells us it's going to take time for them to have a response, can we phone call them every day to "chase" it?

Thrugelmir

JessiceHope03 said:

 the most recent was the top of the chain are still waiting on enquiries. 

So your solicitor isn't rubbish which is pure nonsense. The chain isn't ready to complete. All you can do is wait or pull out. 

AnotherJoe

JessiceHope03 said:

We put an offer in to buy a property back in October and are still waiting for a date to exchange and move in. My solicitors are rubbish and update me with the bare minimum as I call them everyday; the most recent was the top of the chain are still waiting on enquiries.

How does top of the chain not having responded to enquiries make your solicitor "rubbish" ?

Do you expect them to call you every day saying "nothings happened today" ? If theres nothing to update, whats the point?

And note, top of the chain is nothing to do with them, they must have made a few calls to get that. Time that they could have been working on someone elses case, and of course if they have other annoying clients like you, their calls are distracting them from working on your case. Call the EA if you want to pester someone, as someone else posted many EAs have a sales progression department to manage chains and you should be using them..

 

JessiceHope03 said:

We’re now in a situation where we need to sign for an extension or new rental property if it doesn’t happen next Friday which will be for a minimum of 6 months which we obviously cannot afford if we then complete a week later. 

No, you dont. As many others have posted, just stay as you are, moving onto a periodic tenancy

JessiceHope03 said:

I’m tempted to start looking at other properties to scare them slightly? 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Not to "scare them" but to cover yourself in case the chain fails, they do fail. You should have started this a couple months back.

Maybe theres a good reason for the delay at the top, say probate delays, or maybe there isnt, but tell the EA who has much more vested in the sale than your solicitor, that you are on the verge of bailing out and are now looking at other properties. And start looking in earnest  there must have been a fair few new since October.

Doozergirl

teachfast said:

TBG01 said:

JessiceHope03 said:

 My solicitors are rubbish and update me with the bare minimum as I call them everyday; the most recent was the top of the chain are still waiting on enquiries. 

Do you call your mechanic every 5 mins to see what they've done on or do you wait for a call from them with an update? 

No but if they kept the car for ages and failed to communicate with me a daily call/visit would invariably ensue. 

OP, contrary to what most posters will tell you here, you simply do have to chase solicitors every day and be assertive. They have too much work that they seem to have undercharged for so they do the last thing someone sat on them for. Don't be put off by conveyancers/solicitors or their family on this forum trying to tell you otherwise. It also keeps you in the loop with dated communication so if you need to complain later on (which you probably will) you have a good timeline. 

I'm not a solicitor or a conveyancer or a member of their family. 

You don't need to chase every day.  If there is something that you specifically need to chase for, and the hold up is with them, fine, hammer them, but if the problem isn't at your end at all then it is useless.  They're not going to chase a solicitor associated with a completely unrelated purchase.  That is the EAs job.  

A mechanic probably should communicate daily as jobs don't take long.

A solicitor should not be phoning you every day, so it goes to match that a client should not phone their solicitor every day.