Exchange timescales

JustMe18

BarelySentientAI said:

JustMe18 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

JustMe18 said:

pjs493 said:

I've just received all the paperwork from the solicitor I'm instructing. In the terms of business it does say they won't give regular updates, just that they will update me when there is something to give an update on. For example, they point out that once the searches have been ordered it is down to how long the local authority take to do this; the time it takes is out of the firm's hands. 

It is very time intensive to call you, and all their other clients, every week just to say there is no update. Let the process take it's course and if you really do feel like weeks and weeks have gone by and you haven't heard anything, give them a quick call if you really feel you need to.

Yes I understand, searches done on the 4th of April and all came back. then she had 8 questions at the same time, but since then nothing...it's been another month and clearly these should be answered? I am control freak and need to know everything. Especially summer time and a lot of holidays planned, need to know estimated dates etc.  So post was about to ask , how long normally takes to exchange...

Why "clearly"?  Do you know what the questions were and who they were asked to?  Some questions are easy, some are much harder/longer.  Sometimes answers come back that make more questions, and the solicitor won't necessarily come back and tell you that because, after all, you're paying them to deal with it.

There is no 'normally' in the time to exchange.  Anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months wouldn't be that unusual.

If I was in the middle of buying and selling, especially buying a house that isn't even supposed to be built for another month, then I wouldn't be planning any holidays at all this summer.

Why not? We have 3 holidays planned, but I guess everyone is different. We can't live without holidays The house is built already, they are done some decoration work now, floors, kitchen etc. 

Having several holidays booked across a period where you might not yet know whether the new house is actually ready for occupation, whether all the right answers get to your solicitors, whether your buyer wants a date that happens to be right in the middle of one of these holidays.... doesn't really match your "I'm a control freak and want everything to work straight away" that you were mentioning earlier.

If your holidays take priority, then that's your choice, but having a lot of days when you can't agree things (I'm sure you don't want to be moving house during one of the holidays) makes things slower and more complicated, not faster and easy to arrange.

JustMe18 said:

Tiglet2 said:

Your solicitor will be making enquiries of the housing association/shared ownership group, which is an added party to the transaction.   These companies do not prioritise your move and will answer the enquiries in their own good time.  Neither you, nor your solicitor have any influence over how long they take to reply and often the replies, when received, don't answer the enquiry satisfactorily, so more enquiries have to be made.....

You are paying your solicitor to sell and buy the properties on your behalf.  They prefer to get on with the job in hand, rather than have to provide you with updates because of your need to be in control.  Just think how much time would be wasted if they had to update all their other clients every week - the consequence of that would be an even slower transaction.

With two shared ownership transactions, you are still early days, if this has only been going on since March.

Well, the builder ( Taylor Whimpey) wanted us originally to exchange in 45 days. If they know, their solicitors are slow, why would they even expect this ? I don't mind waiting, it's just a bit pushy from both sides, that we need to exchange pretty soon, but I feel like nothing is being done ( at least nothing is happening on the app I have to track progress). 

Builder wants fast exchange because after that it is very expensive for you to back out.  They always do.  Then it looks like they're doing you a favour by relaxing the deadline a little when the solicitor is slow.

Have you read the multiple threads on here titled things like 'My house was supposed to be ready but now my mortgage is expiring'? Being nearly complete internally is a long way from actually being ready to move in to.

No sorry, I didn't read it. Our holidays can be cancelled/amended if needed , as we never fly, we drive to Europe, so it's not an issue for us to cancel, if we find out something about the dates etc. We can also come back any day. 
Our mortgage expires on 31st of July, I am expecting to complete by that day for sure and everyone is aware of the date. 

propertyrental

If you are a control freak and want regular updates, then you need to use a (more expensive) solicitor who provides this kind of personal service.

The problem these days is that clients want the cheapest price, so conveyancers do everything they can to reduce their costs so they can offer reduced prices to clients.

But not all solicitors are the same - you get what you pay for (or perhaps you don't get what you don't pay for!)

JustMe18

propertyrental said:

If you are a control freak and want regular updates, then you need to use a (more expensive) solicitor who provides this kind of personal service.

The problem these days is that clients want the cheapest price, so conveyancers do everything they can to reduce their costs so they can offer reduced prices to clients.

But not all solicitors are the same - you get what you pay for (or perhaps you don't get what you don't pay for!)

I think I'm paying enough...around £5k for the sale and purchase and £3500 fee to the estate agent, who hasn't been responsive either. Never was looking or researching other prices, just picked the one , who was recommended by estate agent. I have asked him what's wrong and why we couldn't get any updates , as we are paying such a high fee, then he said he will step out and I can start looking for another estate agent. Then next day he apologized, but I think it's not 100% professional attitude. 

propertyrental

Estate agent's fee is totally separate from legal/conveyancing fee.

As for using the estate agent's recommended solicitor, the advice here is to never do that. The solicitor is almost certainly paying the EA a commission for passing them a client (you) and who do you think ultimately pays for that commission.

Next time do what you should always do with a significant purchase (whether a product or service). Do your own research, and shop around. By all means take into account recommendations, but don't just follow them blindly.