Staying on top of my Solicitor for pre 30 June completion

Dimension_

Hi all,
Looking for some advice and opinions.

Current situation
- I had an offer accepted back in March, however the vendor and their solicitor have been very very slow to respond to requests.
- As such, the local authority searches were only raised about 2 weeks ago and not expected back for another 3 weeks
- My mortgage offer has been received and enquiries have been raised but not yet responded to
- Added to this is the complexity of my purchase being a probate sale, and this has not yet been granted. Probate was applied for in February and is imminently due based on what i am being told. 

My solicitor has told me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day despite it being a chain free free purchase and sale. He has said it is not possible due to the need for requesting my mortgage funds and dealing with paperwork so at least one week is needed between exchange and completion. My concern is this could unnecessarily hold up the transaction and it could go beyond 30 June meaning an additional £12.5k in SDLT. Is what my Solicitor saying accurate given the nature of the sale? I am more inclined to believe he may be trying to manage his own capacity constraints at this very busy time by telling me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day.

How can I ensure that i stand the best possible chance of completion before the stamp duty holiday ends, is there anything i can do now to save time further down the line? If i am not mistaken, the next steps include, obtaining satisfactory responses to the enquiries, reviewing the local authority searches, raising further enquiries if needed and agreeing a date for exchange and completion - is this realistic to get done in 2-3 weeks prior to the end of June?

Thanks

user1977

Dimension_ said:

My solicitor has told me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day despite it being a chain free free purchase and sale. He has said it is not possible due to the need for requesting my mortgage funds and dealing with paperwork so at least one week is needed between exchange and completion. Is what my Solicitor saying accurate given the nature of the sale? 

No, it's complete nonsense - how does he think every other simultaneous exchange/completion gets done? You don't need to wait until exchange has happened before requesting mortgage funds etc, just have a good idea of when completion ought to take place.

MaryNB

Dimension_ said:

My solicitor has told me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day despite it being a chain free free purchase and sale. He has said it is not possible due to the need for requesting my mortgage funds and dealing with paperwork so at least one week is needed between exchange and completion. 

My solicitor said the exact same thing, insisted she needed 5 working days. I went back to the EA telling them if the seller kept delaying exchange then completion was going to be delayed as well. Next thing I knew my solicitor changed her mind. She had requested funds and said we could exchange the day before completion if the bank confirmed they'd release the funds on time. I exchanged the day before completion without any issues. Funds were received within 3 days.

A week is standard notice to release the funds but this can be reduced if the solicitor pushes the lender for it. Same day exchange and completion is very common these days. 

user1977

MaryNB said:

Dimension_ said:

My solicitor has told me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day despite it being a chain free free purchase and sale. He has said it is not possible due to the need for requesting my mortgage funds and dealing with paperwork so at least one week is needed between exchange and completion. 

A week is standard notice to release the funds but this can be reduced if the solicitor pushes the lender for it.

Less notice (even next day) is pretty doable.

saajan_12

Dimension_ said:

Hi all,
Looking for some advice and opinions.

Current situation
- I had an offer accepted back in March, however the vendor and their solicitor have been very very slow to respond to requests.
- As such, the local authority searches were only raised about 2 weeks ago and not expected back for another 3 weeks - did your sol wait for anything eg mortgage before starting? this leaves things quite tight, even if everyone is prompt from here. 
- My mortgage offer has been received and enquiries have been raised but not yet responded to
- Added to this is the complexity of my purchase being a probate sale, and this has not yet been granted. Probate was applied for in February and is imminently due based on what i am being told. - this will be the main unknown then. 

My solicitor has told me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day despite it being a chain free free purchase and sale. He has said it is not possible due to the need for requesting my mortgage funds and dealing with paperwork so at least one week is needed between exchange and completion. - no, exchange has nothing to do with your lender. Your solicitor can request funds 1 week ahead, or whatever the lender needs.  
My concern is this could unnecessarily hold up the transaction and it could go beyond 30 June meaning an additional £12.5k in SDLT. Is what my Solicitor saying accurate given the nature of the sale? I am more inclined to believe he may be trying to manage his own capacity constraints at this very busy time by telling me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day.

How can I ensure that i stand the best possible chance of completion before the stamp duty holiday ends, is there anything i can do now to save time further down the line? If i am not mistaken, the next steps include, obtaining satisfactory responses to the enquiries, reviewing the local authority searches, raising further enquiries if needed and agreeing a date for exchange and completion - is this realistic to get done in 2-3 weeks prior to the end of June? - possible but will be tight as theres a few different bits outstanding - your list plus probate being granted, plus anything else that comes up. 

Thanks

Simulataneous exchange & completion shouldn't be the issue here, as funds can be requested and then sent back by the solicitor if completion doesn't happen. 

However you do have a few other issues which will make this tight. Might be worth thinking what the plan is if you can't complete by 30th June - can you afford to and do you want to buy with the SDLT, or would you pull out? 

Dimension_

saajan_12 said:

Dimension_ said:

- As such, the local authority searches were only raised about 2 weeks ago and not expected back for another 3 weeks - did your sol wait for anything eg mortgage before starting? this leaves things quite tight, even if everyone is prompt from here. 
- My mortgage offer has been received and enquiries have been raised but not yet responded to
- Added to this is the complexity of my purchase being a probate sale, and this has not yet been granted. Probate was applied for in February and is imminently due based on what i am being told. - this will be the main unknown then. 

My solicitor has told me i cannot exchange and complete on the same day despite it being a chain free free purchase and sale. He has said it is not possible due to the need for requesting my mortgage funds and dealing with paperwork so at least one week is needed between exchange and completion. - no, exchange has nothing to do with your lender. Your solicitor can request funds 1 week ahead, or whatever the lender needs.  

How can I ensure that i stand the best possible chance of completion before the stamp duty holiday ends, is there anything i can do now to save time further down the line? If i am not mistaken, the next steps include, obtaining satisfactory responses to the enquiries, reviewing the local authority searches, raising further enquiries if needed and agreeing a date for exchange and completion - is this realistic to get done in 2-3 weeks prior to the end of June? - possible but will be tight as theres a few different bits outstanding - your list plus probate being granted, plus anything else that comes up. 

Simulataneous exchange & completion shouldn't be the issue here, as funds can be requested and then sent back by the solicitor if completion doesn't happen. 

However you do have a few other issues which will make this tight. Might be worth thinking what the plan is if you can't complete by 30th June - can you afford to and do you want to buy with the SDLT, or would you pull out? 

Thank you for the response. 

Yes, my solicitor waited for the contract pack before requesting the searches through a third party. They are expected back in 2 weeks or so 

As you say probate is the big unknown and my solicitor has asked for this to be expedited as part of his enquiries, but i am not sure if this is even possible. 

I am going to speak to my solicitor and push back on the 1 week between exchange and completion. I will suggest organising the finances in advance. I still don't understand why they have told me its not possible.

If i cannot complete before the 30th June, i would reduce my offer price by the increase in stamp duty and would be prepared to walk away. I think this would be the only real course of action given the delay on the vendors side that has held things up. 

Dimension_

Is there a risk that i could exchange, be committed and then find out completion has been delayed until after 30 June and would be on the hook for the increase i stamp duty

A friend has suggested to include in the contract wording a clause that reduces the purchase price by the increase in stamp duty if completion takes place in July - is this possible?

user1977

Dimension_ said:

Is there a risk that i could exchange, be committed and then find out completion has been delayed until after 30 June and would be on the hook for the increase i stamp duty

A friend has suggested to include in the contract wording a clause that reduces the purchase price by the increase in stamp duty if completion takes place in July - is this possible?

Theoretically possible but very rare for completion not to happen on the day set in stone at completion. Yes, you could potentially change the price in that way, but it upsets a bunch of other things e.g. your mortgage lender would need to be happy with the amended price and reissue their offer.

lenylion

I began a lease hold extension process last year for my two bedroom flat. I was advised I would need to pay for price of lease extension, my legal fees my surveyors fees and the legal fees of the landlord. The management company The Island ( st neots) management company, named on the lease was sent the lease extension to sign on 5 May 2021. Yesterday 20 May 2021 Atlantis Estates, to whom I pay my annual management fee and acts on behalf of the Island, requested a sum of £594 plus VAT to act on the management company’s behalf to get the lease extension signed. My solicitor tells me in all his career management companies do not usually charge such a fee Andrew on the one or two occasions he has experienced it isn’t usually a modest admin fee. What is the experience of others as this does not appear to be a reasonable or proportionate demand?  

user1977

lenylion said:

I began a lease hold extension process last year for my two bedroom flat. I was advised I would need to pay for price of lease extension, my legal fees my surveyors fees and the legal fees of the landlord. The management company The Island ( st neots) management company, named on the lease was sent the lease extension to sign on 5 May 2021. Yesterday 20 May 2021 Atlantis Estates, to whom I pay my annual management fee and acts on behalf of the Island, requested a sum of £594 plus VAT to act on the management company’s behalf to get the lease extension signed. My solicitor tells me in all his career management companies do not usually charge such a fee Andrew on the one or two occasions he has experienced it isn’t usually a modest admin fee. What is the experience of others as this does not appear to be a reasonable or proportionate demand?  

Please start a new thread, this has nothing to do with the thread you've posted on.

Dimension_

user1977 said:

Dimension_ said:

Is there a risk that i could exchange, be committed and then find out completion has been delayed until after 30 June and would be on the hook for the increase i stamp duty

A friend has suggested to include in the contract wording a clause that reduces the purchase price by the increase in stamp duty if completion takes place in July - is this possible?

Theoretically possible but very rare for completion not to happen on the day set in stone at completion do you mean exchange? . Yes, you could potentially change the price in that way, but it upsets a bunch of other things e.g. your mortgage lender would need to be happy with the amended price and reissue their offer.

So the date for completion is set in stone at the point of exchange ? I hadn’t appreciated this. This reduces the risk significantly of committing to the purchase without knowing how much stamp duty would be. 

I am less worried about the potential delay of going back to my lender with a new purchase price, since if this occurred, there wouldn’t be the urgency of a deadline that there currently is.