Exchange of contracts

AGa206

I am in the process of buying a house.  The house I am buying had a small leak and I was told that when I when I was happy with the work to rectify it they could exchange contracts. I was then told a date to complete by my estate agent and the vendors estate agent which my solicitor agreed. I was then told that we can’t exchange because they’re waiting for a local search back from my buyer’s mortgage lender and shouldn’t have been given a date to complete even though they agreed the date.   When I asked if they had received the search I was told that I should contact my Estate Agent to ask the buyer to contact his solicitor to chase up the mortgage lender when I thought that that was the job of the solicitor.  I was then given a date to complete because they had received the search.  

Now they’re saying they’re not ready yet to agree a date because they are waiting for my buyer’s solicitor to agree a date to exchange even though all parties including solicitors have agreed on the completion date.  

My estate agent told me that they had received the search but my solicitor didn’t tell me until I rang them up to ask.  More often than not they say they don’t know anything and when they do know something they’ll let me know but they never let me know until I either email or ring them.  In fact my estate agent seems to be doing more chasing up and is more informative than my solicitors. 

I just feel like they are making a stressful situation, even more stressful.  The last time I bought a house was 11 years ago so I’m not new to this process but I just wondered if this is normal with conveyancing because things seem to move faster when I bought the house I’m living in now.

UnderOffer

Sounds normal to me. Your EA can follow up with your buyers to get an idea of what’s outstanding. My understanding is that Solicitors work on many many cases all at once, they can’t possibly keep responding to enquiries from their customer, as they’d not get the actual conveyancing done. Initial dates are always suggested but often get changed due to delays in the chain. 

When did you start the process? How many months in are you now? 

housebuyer143

As above, it's very common that completion dates are batted about and then changed. An exchange date can be any date at all up to the completion date you eventually agree to aim for, some will even make you wait until the same day. 
As long as they have everything and the estate agent says they are still keen and things are progressing all you can do it wait for a proposed completion date and then for an official exchange date.

eddddy

As above, it sounds reasonably normal.

• It sounds like the estate agent has liaised with you and the buyer to agree a 'target completion date' (It might be a bit of an optimistic target date, so be prepared for it to slip).

• Exchange, and therefore completion, can't happen until the solicitors are ready and all the legal stuff is done

• So you can tell the solicitors what your 'target completion date' is - and they might try to aim for that, if it's possible

It's also worth bearing in mind...

• Solicitors concentrate on doing the legal work. They don't really chase the other party for info, updates etc.

• A good estate agent will "progress the sale". i.e. Chase both parties, ask them for updates, pass messages between seller and buyer, try to resolve problems along the way

(But maybe you have to be a little cautious about what estate agent says. Because they might add some 'spin', or the buyer might have told them fibs, etc.)

I guess this is easy for me to say, but you're not really in control of the process, and getting stressed about the situation isn't going to make the process move faster.  

user1977

AGa206 said:

they’re waiting for a local search back from my buyer’s mortgage lender

That doesn't make much sense (lenders don't provide local searches!), so there's a breakdown in communication somewhere.

Are they waiting for the search from the council? Are they waiting for the lender to confirm they're happy with something disclosed in the search? Or something completely different?

Weathergirl_76

I had a fairly simple sale and purchase (sold to cash buyers, and my purchase had no chain). It took 4 months from accepting the offer to completion. - that was with a very good conveyancer who works quickly. Myself and the seller for my purchase pushing constantly the whole way through. Delays were caused by both sides being on leave at some point or another, searches arriving late (im told sometimes it takes weeks, other times they are very fast). I answered all queries raised within a few hours. Maybe ask your solicitor where abouts you are with the transaction and what they are waiting on, and if it’s something you can chase up then do. It is a stressful process unfortunately, I don’t think there is any way round it. It’s either wait wait wait or go go go now. Best of luck 

Titus_Wadd

Another vote for a good estate agent chasing everyone in the chain for updates; not least because they don't bill for every email and phone call like a solicitor!

We had experience of 2 agent - Our estate agent for our sale and the one chasing for our vendors.  They were on top of the process throughout.  Between them they checked and chased all the agents involved in the whole chain.  It was reassuring that if they were told a buyer at the end of the chain was waiting for X within a week, they would ring again after the week was up.  The negotiation for a completion date was all down to them, the solicitors just went along with the agreed date.

I'd go with either firm in an instant; a motivated agent is a great help.

EssexHebridean

Titus_Wadd said:

Another vote for a good estate agent chasing everyone in the chain for updates; not least because they don't bill for every email and phone call like a solicitor!

A good solicitor won't be doing this in a conveyancing transaction either!