Current enquiry timeline

middleagedriver

I know this is normally a case of how long is a piece of string. But I just want to know people’s experiences.

For those going through the buying process now how long are you waiting for enquiries to come back from sellers solicitor? 

I’m assuming solicitors/conveyancers are not as busy at the moment since the housing market has took a dip so they won’t be going through as many transactions.

For context this is the 3rd house we’ve tried to buy over the last 18 month. So have a fair amount of experience how long is has taken in the past. Our offer was accepted on the 6th December and we have just sent our first round of enquiries last week. With 7 fairly simple enquiries and 1 about building regs.

Tiglet2

Seven enquiries and a building regs enquiry on a freehold house (and not with a management company for the communal parts) should be fairly straight forward.  Just bear in mind that the first round of enquiries are to get responses and those responses might need some further enquiries or clarification. 

If the person selling the property is the owner, i.e. it is not a probate sale where an executor doesn't know the property or the property is being sold by a divorcing couple or jointly owned by an absent party, and there are no title issues around the ownership/covenants etc, then there is no reason it can't be done in good time, providing the solicitor and third parties have a reasonable workload.

Good luck!

middleagedriver

Tiglet2 said:

Seven enquiries and a building regs enquiry on a freehold house (and not with a management company for the communal parts) should be fairly straight forward.  Just bear in mind that the first round of enquiries are to get responses and those responses might need some further enquiries or clarification. 

If the person selling the property is the owner, i.e. it is not a probate sale where an executor doesn't know the property or the property is being sold by a divorcing couple or jointly owned by an absent party, and there are no title issues around the ownership/covenants etc, then there is no reason it can't be done in good time, providing the solicitor and third parties have a reasonable workload.

Good luck!

Yes no management company, roads all adopted, chain free (moving in with parents), not probate, married couple. To me this is a simple transaction. They are keen to move out. Lots already packed up when we last visited.

We’ve met the sellers 3 times now and on all those times they have mentioned about moving in with parents for whatever reason. We just get a very good feeling with these sellers that they a honest people unlike the last one (we’ve been burnt).

The building regs one is to do with the boiler as it was installed in 2017 but there isn’t anything on the Gas Safe website for building reg and the seller wasn’t the owner when the boiler was installed so I guess they won’t know who installed it if they have no paper work. An indemnity policy has been suggested.

The other enquires are all relate to the fixtures and fitting e.g. cooker fitted are you actually leaving it.

We’re hoping to complete in February which based on the enquiries seems very possible as long as their solicitor is on the ball.

P.S. All our searches are done and mortgage offer in place

EDIT: Freehold property, built 1995

Tiglet2

It sounds pretty straight forward.  The sellers would 'probably' be asked to pay for the indemnity policy, since it is their 'defect', but the cost won't be too much and definitely not a dealbreaker.

A possible spanner in the works might be if the vendors decide not to move in with the parents and instead want to add a purchase onto the transaction.

middleagedriver

Tiglet2 said:

It sounds pretty straight forward.  The sellers would 'probably' be asked to pay for the indemnity policy, since it is their 'defect', but the cost won't be too much and definitely not a dealbreaker.

A possible spanner in the works might be if the vendors decide not to move in with the parents and instead want to add a purchase onto the transaction.

Yes that is always the risk. We have stated to them in person that having a chain free property is our number 1 priority, so we get any hint that they have changed there mine we will be pulling out. I know it sounds harsh but we’ve had too many dishonest people to be messed around again.


May as well share the enquiries as there is actually only 7 and there’s nothing confidential in them.

1. Please confirm that the Seller is not aware of any breach of the covenants contained in the registers of title of the Property.

2. Please ask the seller to confirm that the boundaries marked red on the Land Registry Title Plan match those on site.

3. Please confirm whether the items marked as “Fitted/Freestanding” at section 2 of the Fittings and Contents Form are included in the sale.

4. Please confirm that the items listed as included in the Fixtures and Fittings list are not the subject of any Hire Purchase or Consumer Credit Agreements.

5. Please provide building regulations compliance certificate for the installation of the boiler, or confirm your client will bear the cost of indemnity insurance and provide a draft policy for approval.

6. We note there is a burglar alarm at the property. Please confirm all codes/keys and instruction manual will be handed over on completion.

7. We note from our local authority search that there is a rail proposal within 200m of the property. Please ask the seller to specifically confirmed whether they have received any correspondence or notice in this regard and if so forward a copy to us.

Tiglet2

All standard and nothing onerous in those enquiries, apart from the rail proposal, but I assume you're ok with that?

user1977

Presumably it’s easier and much quicker to find out about the rail proposal from other sources -not sure why you’d rely on asking the vendors about it?

Similarly, not sure the question about the boundaries is worthwhile. Do you have any concerns about them?

middleagedriver

Yeah rail proposal we are fine with. It’s actually a line that is already there but is being converted from freight to commuter line. It shouldn’t be news to our local solicitor as it a big project for the area but I guess they are covering their and our back. It’s actually one of the reasons why we are buying there as the station will be a 10 minute walk away.

middleagedriver

user1977 said:

Presumably it’s easier and much quicker to find out about the rail proposal from other sources -not sure why you’d rely on asking the vendors about it?

Similarly, not sure the question about the boundaries is worthwhile. Do you have any concerns about them?

We have no concerns about the boundaries. It’s exactly as we expect 

middleagedriver

Hoping this may help someone else, we now have all our answers back fully satisfied and completion date agreed. Took 16 days in total to resolve enquires. 9 weeks from offer being accepted to agreeing a date.