Change solicitors?

linda.b_4

Hi. We had an offer accepted on a property in November. We are cash buyers in rented so hope to have a quick purchase as vendor is elderly and moving in with family.
So far the response from the solicitor has imo been very poor and am wondering if we should cut our losses and change to the sols  we used for our sale as they were really good, but not in the area we are living in.
I contacted sols last Monday for an update, nothing. Same again this Monday and they even said have you tried asking the estate agent for an update!
I did and they gave me some very helpful info but surely this should come from the sols who I’m paying?
contract pack hasn’t been sent back, no request for searches payment even though it’s 4weeks since memo of sale  and I’m worried that any enquiries that arise will just sit there until he sees fit to bother himself looking at them.
We already think there may be a boundary problem as next doors wall and gutter is the boundary and they have no access except through our garden and they also had an extension in 2017 that included a boundary amendment which comparing the plans, now cuts through our detached house!
what would you do in this situation?

Thanks for any advice.

Flugelhorn

I would always stick with someone I know and trusted - last 2 purchases have been for properties in our local area using our old solicitor 250 miles away as I knew it would all get sorted reliably 

Countrysider

I recently changed solicitors midway through my purchase.

I was with a conveyancing warehouse that was recommended by the EA. I only went with them initially as i wanted my offer to be accepted and didn't mind paying over the odds (for an EA backhander) assuming that, as i was a cash buyer, they couldn't be that bad. 

How wrong i was. They were absolutely terrible!!

I switched to a local firm after about 2 months wasted and the new solicitors are great (and cheaper). 

One thing to bear in mind is that the EA will have to re-issue the memo of sale to show the new solicitor. For this reason (or the lack of referral fee) the EAs were reluctant for me to switch but, as it's a slowing market, i was confident they wouldn't complain too much. 

Tiglet2

linda.b_4 said:

Hi. We had an offer accepted on a property in November. We are cash buyers in rented so hope to have a quick purchase as vendor is elderly and moving in with family.
So far the response from the solicitor has imo been very poor and am wondering if we should cut our losses and change to the sols  we used for our sale as they were really good, but not in the area we are living in.
I contacted sols last Monday for an update, nothing. Same again this Monday and they even said have you tried asking the estate agent for an update!
I did and they gave me some very helpful info but surely this should come from the sols who I’m paying?
contract pack hasn’t been sent back, no request for searches payment even though it’s 4weeks since memo of sale  and I’m worried that any enquiries that arise will just sit there until he sees fit to bother himself looking at them.
We already think there may be a boundary problem as next doors wall and gutter is the boundary and they have no access except through our garden and they also had an extension in 2017 that included a boundary amendment which comparing the plans, now cuts through our detached house!
what would you do in this situation?

Thanks for any advice.

Can you clarify?  Are you saying that the vendor hasn't sent the paperwork to her solicitor so that he can forward the 'contract pack' to your solicitor?  If that's the case, then it is the vendor that everyone is waiting for - no progress can be made until then.

linda.b_4

Thanks for replies. 

I think i will contact the solicitor’s  today and ask if they are too busy to work on our purchase that we are happy to help them by moving to another sols.
it might get them to focus a bit if they want our business. 

MobileSaver

Flugelhorn said:

I would always stick with someone I know and trusted - last 2 purchases have been for properties in our local area using our old solicitor 250 miles away as I knew it would all get sorted reliably 

Ditto. There used to be a solicitor on these forums, Richard Webster, who always impressed me with his posts so I used his firm for several purchases and sales over the last ten years or so.

They're based hundreds of miles away from both me and the properties I bought and I've never met them face to face, everything was done online. They always got the job done efficiently and professionally so I carried on using them even after Richard retired.

user1977

Tiglet2 said:

linda.b_4 said:

Hi. We had an offer accepted on a property in November. We are cash buyers in rented so hope to have a quick purchase as vendor is elderly and moving in with family.
So far the response from the solicitor has imo been very poor and am wondering if we should cut our losses and change to the sols  we used for our sale as they were really good, but not in the area we are living in.
I contacted sols last Monday for an update, nothing. Same again this Monday and they even said have you tried asking the estate agent for an update!
I did and they gave me some very helpful info but surely this should come from the sols who I’m paying?
contract pack hasn’t been sent back, no request for searches payment even though it’s 4weeks since memo of sale  and I’m worried that any enquiries that arise will just sit there until he sees fit to bother himself looking at them.
We already think there may be a boundary problem as next doors wall and gutter is the boundary and they have no access except through our garden and they also had an extension in 2017 that included a boundary amendment which comparing the plans, now cuts through our detached house!
what would you do in this situation?

Thanks for any advice.

Can you clarify?  Are you saying that the vendor hasn't sent the paperwork to her solicitor so that he can forward the 'contract pack' to your solicitor?  If that's the case, then it is the vendor that everyone is waiting for - no progress can be made until then.

To be fair, they could be making some progress while they wait for the contract pack, such as ordering searches or looking at the titles. It's not as if people are waiting for a chain to complete.

Tiglet2

user1977 said:

Tiglet2 said:

linda.b_4 said:

Hi. We had an offer accepted on a property in November. We are cash buyers in rented so hope to have a quick purchase as vendor is elderly and moving in with family.
So far the response from the solicitor has imo been very poor and am wondering if we should cut our losses and change to the sols  we used for our sale as they were really good, but not in the area we are living in.
I contacted sols last Monday for an update, nothing. Same again this Monday and they even said have you tried asking the estate agent for an update!
I did and they gave me some very helpful info but surely this should come from the sols who I’m paying?
contract pack hasn’t been sent back, no request for searches payment even though it’s 4weeks since memo of sale  and I’m worried that any enquiries that arise will just sit there until he sees fit to bother himself looking at them.
We already think there may be a boundary problem as next doors wall and gutter is the boundary and they have no access except through our garden and they also had an extension in 2017 that included a boundary amendment which comparing the plans, now cuts through our detached house!
what would you do in this situation?

Thanks for any advice.

Can you clarify?  Are you saying that the vendor hasn't sent the paperwork to her solicitor so that he can forward the 'contract pack' to your solicitor?  If that's the case, then it is the vendor that everyone is waiting for - no progress can be made until then.

To be fair, they could be making some progress while they wait for the contract pack, such as ordering searches or looking at the titles. It's not as if people are waiting for a chain to complete.

You are correct of course.  They could be ordering the searches and looking at the titles, however many buyer's solicitors won't start the searches until provided with the title documents with or without the protocol documents.  They could certainly set up the file, perform ID and AML checks etc.

linda.b_4

It’s not such much that there may or may not be any progress, more that they are not updating us at all, even a curtesy email to say that they will update when they have any info to forward.
several phone calls have just been answered by receptionist to say she would ask him to update us, but nothing.
Thanks

Tiglet2

linda.b_4 said:

It’s not such much that there may or may not be any progress, more that they are not updating us at all, even a curtesy email to say that they will update when they have any info to forward.
several phone calls have just been answered by receptionist to say she would ask him to update us, but nothing.
Thanks

Perhaps they are really busy at this time of year concentrating on completions - most firms have a cut-off of completions before Christmas of today, so they have to prioritise those files first.  

On the other hand, did you instruct one of the 'volume' or 'factory type' conveyancing firms where the fees are cheaper, but you have to compromise on the quality due to the quantity of clients?

linda.b_4

You are probably right re being busy.It’s a local firm with good reviews so I’m going to give it until middle of January and see if there’s any progress.
patience was never my strong point. Lol