Seller and seller's solicitors slow

FataVerde

FTB here: I got an offer accepted on a no chain transaction (flat purchase) at the end of September. Everything on my side went like clockwork. Responsive local solicitor who knows these flats in and out, local searches completed, mortgage obtained within a week of submission with a large deposit. Seller's solicitor took 1 month and 1/2 to send the legal pack. Now my solicitor has been waiting for 2 weeks for more documents from the solicitor. Meanwhile, I've been chasing the EA, also a waste of space, who's got things mixed up on more than one occasion, to try to schedule the surveyor. Is this a sign the sellers are not serious, probably just testing the waters and wasting my time and money? I told them the truth, which is that I'll be out of the UK for quite a while in Jan and Feb and extremely busy  so they risk pushing completion to March-April. But I am getting !!!!!! that according to the EA, the sellers can't be bothered to answer phone calls and emails.

GoogleMeNow

It's only been just over two months since your offer and you are buying a leasehold property.  

The seller's solicitor can only send the legal pack when the sellers have filled in all the paperwork and provided documentation relating to the property.  Some people take ages to provide the forms (think ID documents/AML checks, Property Info Form, Leasehold Info Form, Fixtures & Contents and pay monies to the solicitor for obtaining title documents and either order the Management Pack or pay the solicitor to order it.  

For you the transaction has been going for two months, for your solicitor the work only started upon receipt of the legal pack, which by the sounds of it, was about 3 weeks ago.  It doesn't sound like they got everything they needed either, since they are waiting for more documents.

Try to be patient.  Conveyancing is a legal process which can be complex, particularly with leasehold properties and your solicitor is acting in your best interests to ensure what you are buying is a good and marketable title.

I suspect you will be waiting a while yet.

Snookie12cat

Can I replace seller with buyer  

I feel your pain in the selling process.

Slithery

FataVerde said:
I told them the truth, which is that I'll be out of the UK for quite a while in Jan and Feb and extremely busy  so they risk pushing completion to March-April.

You don't need to be in the country to exchange or complete. The rest of it sounds like normal timescales so far.

Thrugelmir

Being a leasehold property. Biggest delay will be obtaining the management pack from the leaseholder. Neither of the solicitors nor the EA has any influence over the speed that this is provided. Totally outside their control.  Your speed of action has no bearing . 

TripleH

We had a house purchase where the seller's side (especially estate agent) were a nightmare.

We'd be asked for information and turn it around in 24 hours to our solicitor who'd respond to seller in slightly longer time.

We'd then wait 2 weeks plus for a vague response that didn't answer our query and be barked at to exchange by the end of the week (new build development).

The seller is known in the NW for rather naff terms on leasehold properties (found out after deal died) and was fobbing us off because all other buyers were daft enough to accept it. Shame ad the build quality was impressive.

EndlessStruggle

I waited 2 months for a contract pack and a month for a very simple enquiry.

We're now completing two weeks after the last issue was sorted.

5 months in total.

The way I saw it is that I had a lot less to do for the sale and they had a LOT more to do so to be patient.

Your sellers might work a lot or not have access to their phones whilst at work so there might be reasons for communication being slow. 

Is the conveyancers they're using one caught up in the data breach/IT outage?

If so, your purchase might not be a priority case as you are in the early stages.

FataVerde

Thrugelmir said:

Being a leasehold property. Biggest delay will be obtaining the management pack from the leaseholder. Neither of the solicitors nor the EA has any influence over the speed that this is provided. Totally outside their control.  Your speed of action has no bearing . 

It is a share of freehold with no ground rent and no management company. The downstairs neighbour and I share the freehold and co-pay for maintenance of shared areas/structural problems so I assume the documentation should be with the freeholders.

FataVerde

GoogleMeNow said:

It's only been just over two months since your offer and you are buying a leasehold property.  

The seller's solicitor can only send the legal pack when the sellers have filled in all the paperwork and provided documentation relating to the property.  Some people take ages to provide the forms (think ID documents/AML checks, Property Info Form, Leasehold Info Form, Fixtures & Contents and pay monies to the solicitor for obtaining title documents and either order the Management Pack or pay the solicitor to order it.  

For you the transaction has been going for two months, for your solicitor the work only started upon receipt of the legal pack, which by the sounds of it, was about 3 weeks ago.  It doesn't sound like they got everything they needed either, since they are waiting for more documents.

Try to be patient.  Conveyancing is a legal process which can be complex, particularly with leasehold properties and your solicitor is acting in your best interests to ensure what you are buying is a good and marketable title.

I suspect you will be waiting a while yet.

I'll try to be patient, but putting pressure on the EA did speed things in the past so it's a delicate balance I have no complaints about my solicitor, just the vendor's solicitor, but it makes sense they were slow in the beginning if it's typical to wait for two months.

FataVerde

Thrugelmir said:

Being a leasehold property. Biggest delay will be obtaining the management pack from the leaseholder. Neither of the solicitors nor the EA has any influence over the speed that this is provided. Totally outside their control.  Your speed of action has no bearing . 

I guess I could understand the solicitor side, but scheduling the survey/inspection for the Homebuyer's report is basically between the sellers and the surveyor via EA and they have not responded at all after a week. They can say yes or let's reschedule. It's not rocket science. But I'll try to practice patience while also putting some pressure because the sellers said their timeframe for completion is before Christmas (obv impossible now) or after New Year's, which might well look like March.

FataVerde

Slithery said:

FataVerde said:
I told them the truth, which is that I'll be out of the UK for quite a while in Jan and Feb and extremely busy  so they risk pushing completion to March-April.

You don't need to be in the country to exchange or complete. The rest of it sounds like normal timescales so far.

It's more complicated: I have a larger deposit that needs to be transferred from branch. Plus I want to be there for the survey and for completion to start work on the house. Plus I have personal and family issues that need to be dealt with in Jan-Feb so I just explained their timeframe is unrealistic in this rhythm.