How much longer should I be waiting to exchange and complete?

p00hsticks

kplt0 said:

gwynlas said:

These things rarely take less than three months so providing there are no problems count thirteen weeks from offer acceptance.
Are you looking at exchanging and completing on same day?

 I am waiting for the solicitor to get back to me with the Report on Title which has now been almost two weeks and I am having decreased communication with them. I was wondering how long a Report on Title normally takes to compile and from there realistically how long would it be until completion.

The property is currently owned by a house builder and was taken as part-exchange from previous owners, so the property has vacant possession. 

I'm no expert and am not sure how these part-exchanges work, but I wonder if that might possibly be causing the delay ? I know from reading these boards that there is a bit of a back;og at the Land Registry at the moment - if as part of the part exchange the LR had to be updated to show the builder as the new owner (and therefore with authority to them sell it to you) and that isn't yet showing up on the title, then it may be that the buildings solicitor is having to expedite the update.....

Thrugelmir

kplt0 said:

gwynlas said:

These things rarely take less than three months so providing there are no problems count thirteen weeks from offer acceptance.
Are you looking at exchanging and completing on same day?

 I am having decreased communication with them.

You aren't their only client. If you are constantly pestering needlessly then you are simply wasting peoples valuable time. Use the EA to find out what's happening elsewhere in the chain. Not everything lies at your solicitors door.

GoogleMeNow

GDB2222 said:

Tiglet2 said:

The report on title is done when all (or most) enquiries are satisfactorily answered and your solicitor has all the paperwork on the property.  The report comprises of a lot of documents for you to read, together with official documents for your signature and return.  The report takes some time to do, as the solicitor has to review the file and collate all the paperwork to send to you.  Be patient.  It is in hand but it's not a quick turnaround as it is work intensive and there may be other files that have a greater priority than yours.

No dates can be discussed until the paperwork you have to sign is returned to them.  If you have a deposit to pay, the solicitor will let you know when they need this.

As an aside, you cannot count weeks when the offer is accepted.  As far as the solicitor is concerned, their work didn't start until they received draft contract papers from the seller's solicitor so any complaints about how long it has taken, will only be considered by the date of receipt of draft contract papers.  In any case, with the mortgage offer not being received until 13th January, exchange and completion could not take place before that date.

On a practical basis, is there anything useful that the OP can do to speed things up?  Obviously, responding quickly to any queries is a good thing.
 

Yes, the OP can respond to any requests as quickly as possible, but since they are the buyer, it is third parties who are required to answer queries, which could be the vendor (the building company who won't know anything about the property), maybe the previous owner (who may not be willing to assist), the Land Registry (for updated title), the council (planning permissions etc), the lender (discharging their charge) etc etc.  Solicitors cannot dictate how quickly these third parties respond unfortunately!

GoogleMeNow

kplt0 said:

gwynlas said:

These things rarely take less than three months so providing there are no problems count thirteen weeks from offer acceptance.
Are you looking at exchanging and completing on same day?

The vendor has been pushing via the estate agent for a no later than mid-February completion which after the 13th Jan mortgage offer our solicitor has said would be possible however we are now just waiting around for the solicitors to get the documentation done and they refuse to look at completion dates until the Report on Title is issued (fair enough I suppose I get that). If we could exchange and complete on the same day that would be excellent but my solicitor just won't get back to me on my inquiries. The property is currently owned by a house builder and was taken as part-exchange from previous owners, so the property has vacant possession. 

Is your solicitor waiting for the updated title in the house builder's name and won't proceed without it?

kplt0

p00hsticks said:

kplt0 said:

gwynlas said:

These things rarely take less than three months so providing there are no problems count thirteen weeks from offer acceptance.
Are you looking at exchanging and completing on same day?

 I am waiting for the solicitor to get back to me with the Report on Title which has now been almost two weeks and I am having decreased communication with them. I was wondering how long a Report on Title normally takes to compile and from there realistically how long would it be until completion.

The property is currently owned by a house builder and was taken as part-exchange from previous owners, so the property has vacant possession. 

I'm no expert and am not sure how these part-exchanges work, but I wonder if that might possibly be causing the delay ? I know from reading these boards that there is a bit of a back;og at the Land Registry at the moment - if as part of the part exchange the LR had to be updated to show the builder as the new owner (and therefore with authority to them sell it to you) and that isn't yet showing up on the title, then it may be that the buildings solicitor is having to expedite the update.....

The part-exchange took place in April 2021 so the Title is owned by the House Builder and has for a significant amount of time now. As I say, the documents had been ready for a reasonable amount of time however the solicitor was not getting back to me- after some pushing they have in fact gotten back to me and the exchange is taking place today. 

kplt0

GoogleMeNow said:

GDB2222 said:

Tiglet2 said:

The report on title is done when all (or most) enquiries are satisfactorily answered and your solicitor has all the paperwork on the property.  The report comprises of a lot of documents for you to read, together with official documents for your signature and return.  The report takes some time to do, as the solicitor has to review the file and collate all the paperwork to send to you.  Be patient.  It is in hand but it's not a quick turnaround as it is work intensive and there may be other files that have a greater priority than yours.

No dates can be discussed until the paperwork you have to sign is returned to them.  If you have a deposit to pay, the solicitor will let you know when they need this.

As an aside, you cannot count weeks when the offer is accepted.  As far as the solicitor is concerned, their work didn't start until they received draft contract papers from the seller's solicitor so any complaints about how long it has taken, will only be considered by the date of receipt of draft contract papers.  In any case, with the mortgage offer not being received until 13th January, exchange and completion could not take place before that date.

On a practical basis, is there anything useful that the OP can do to speed things up?  Obviously, responding quickly to any queries is a good thing.
 

Yes, the OP can respond to any requests as quickly as possible, but since they are the buyer, it is third parties who are required to answer queries, which could be the vendor (the building company who won't know anything about the property), maybe the previous owner (who may not be willing to assist), the Land Registry (for updated title), the council (planning permissions etc), the lender (discharging their charge) etc etc.  Solicitors cannot dictate how quickly these third parties respond unfortunately!

What I was looking for was practical advice, which again not many people have really given other than 'you are not their priority', I have seen been informed we are in fact their longest conveyancing client and the vendor has been pushing them in the last 2 weeks with no reply. I have responded to all queries promptly. There are no third parties involved other than the solicitor and of course the mortgage provider. The previous owner had filled out all relevant documents and completed necessary items before they sold to the house builder, nothing to do with the council needs done, ALL searches have been complete for months since November. Land Registry Title is in the name of the builder. Even contacted the lender, they said there is no issues and they have been waiting for funds to be drawn by our solicitor. There are no third parties at this stage as everything has been done, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a simple sale with immediate vacant possession and no other issues to have the work completed by the solicitor after 5-6 weeks. 

kplt0

Thrugelmir said:

kplt0 said:

gwynlas said:

These things rarely take less than three months so providing there are no problems count thirteen weeks from offer acceptance.
Are you looking at exchanging and completing on same day?

 I am having decreased communication with them.

You aren't their only client. If you are constantly pestering needlessly then you are simply wasting peoples valuable time. Use the EA to find out what's happening elsewhere in the chain. Not everything lies at your solicitors door.

Everything was lying at my solicitors door, there have been no other issues, there is NO CHAIN as previously stated. It seems constantly pestering has been the only way to get any results so my advice to anyone else in this situation now or in the future is to constantly be on to your solicitor because they will drag their feet it seems. 

kplt0

Slithery said:

kplt0 said:

Tiglet2 said:

kplt0 said:

Tiglet2 said:

The report on title is done when all (or most) enquiries are satisfactorily answered and your solicitor has all the paperwork on the property.  The report comprises of a lot of documents for you to read, together with official documents for your signature and return.  The report takes some time to do, as the solicitor has to review the file and collate all the paperwork to send to you.  Be patient.  It is in hand but it's not a quick turnaround as it is work intensive and there may be other files that have a greater priority than yours.

No dates can be discussed until the paperwork you have to sign is returned to them.  If you have a deposit to pay, the solicitor will let you know when they need this.

As an aside, you cannot count weeks when the offer is accepted.  As far as the solicitor is concerned, their work didn't start until they received draft contract papers from the seller's solicitor so any complaints about how long it has taken, will only be considered by the date of receipt of draft contract papers.  In any case, with the mortgage offer not being received until 13th January, exchange and completion could not take place before that date.

I have no qualms with the fact it couldn't have been before January 13th as there were a lot of issues over the current damp levels in the property. That being said, they told me that they could absolutely have the purchase complete by mid-February, as in next Friday, and I am not hearing anything from them. Similarly, it would bother me less if they actually were providing updates but they cannot give an estimated date for it being completed - they have had the draft contract papers since 1 week after the offer so as far as that goes, they have had this since September. 

Solicitors will NOT guarantee completion by a certain time, so although they may have thought mid-February was doable as an initial target, it appears that their work is not yet complete otherwise they would be in touch with you.  Is it possible there are still enquiries outstanding? 

They may NOT be able to guarantee completion by a certain time however after speaking to numerous different people and solicitors, I have since discovered I should have been given a completion date by now.

Not true in the slightest. Solicitors will only start discussing completion when everyone is ready to exchange, and it doesn't sound like you are anywhere near that seeing as how you've only just seen the title report. What about all of the solicitors enquiries? That's usually the longest part of the process.

@Tiglet2's comment was 100% correct.

Also, what would be the motivation for the solicitor deliberately dragging things out longer than necessary? The quicker you complete the less work they have to do and the sooner they get their money.

Everyone has been ready to exchange. After hounding them and hounding them, the exchange is taking place today. SEARCHES WERE COMPLETE IN NOVEMBER, it seems you have not read the original post, and if you have no useful comments, I don't see why you should have any motivation to give no advice or help - you may as well not comment. The solicitor has no motivation to do anything - that is the point. 

Tiglet2

kplt0 said:

Thrugelmir said:

kplt0 said:

gwynlas said:

These things rarely take less than three months so providing there are no problems count thirteen weeks from offer acceptance.
Are you looking at exchanging and completing on same day?

 I am having decreased communication with them.

You aren't their only client. If you are constantly pestering needlessly then you are simply wasting peoples valuable time. Use the EA to find out what's happening elsewhere in the chain. Not everything lies at your solicitors door.

Everything was lying at my solicitors door, there have been no other issues, there is NO CHAIN as previously stated. It seems constantly pestering has been the only way to get any results so my advice to anyone else in this situation now or in the future is to constantly be on to your solicitor because they will drag their feet it seems. 

Pleased you're exchanging today.  However NO CHAIN doesn't mean it will be quick.  Due diligence in enquiries/paperwork still has to be done whether there is a chain or not.

kplt0

GDB2222 said:

Tiglet2 said:

The report on title is done when all (or most) enquiries are satisfactorily answered and your solicitor has all the paperwork on the property.  The report comprises of a lot of documents for you to read, together with official documents for your signature and return.  The report takes some time to do, as the solicitor has to review the file and collate all the paperwork to send to you.  Be patient.  It is in hand but it's not a quick turnaround as it is work intensive and there may be other files that have a greater priority than yours.

No dates can be discussed until the paperwork you have to sign is returned to them.  If you have a deposit to pay, the solicitor will let you know when they need this.

As an aside, you cannot count weeks when the offer is accepted.  As far as the solicitor is concerned, their work didn't start until they received draft contract papers from the seller's solicitor so any complaints about how long it has taken, will only be considered by the date of receipt of draft contract papers.  In any case, with the mortgage offer not being received until 13th January, exchange and completion could not take place before that date.

On a practical basis, is there anything useful that the OP can do to speed things up?  Obviously, responding quickly to any queries is a good thing.
 

Thanks GDB2222, I feel I'm in a minefield because I am a FTB and have had quite a few issues in this purchase. I just wanted some genuinely helpful advice and I've gotten not much of that unfortunately, don't think I'll be using MSE Forums in the future as people just seem completely unhelpful and quite vulture-like to be honest.