Timeline for receiving written acceptance in Scotland

porthege908

Hi all,

I wanted to ask how normal it is to wait 2+ weeks for written acceptance from seller on a flat offer in Scotland.

Verbally offered on a flat on June 25th that was accepted verbally on the day, then a few hours later my solicitor sent out the written offer to the estate agent to forward to the seller.

It's been more than two weeks now and as far as I know, my solicitor still haven't received anything from the seller. As a FTB I'm not sure if this is normal? Should I be concerned?

The seller is moving in with their partner in their existing flat so it's not a case of them having to find another flat or mortgage.

user1977

Normal. The qualified acceptance often needs to wait until selling solicitor has titles, knows what consents etc exist, and generally has had a chance to go through 30-something pages of contract with their client. Plus obviously it’s peak holiday season so if solicitor and/or clients are away then it’s bound to take longer.

ellie99

That does seem longer than normal. My first thought is perhaps one or both solicitors have been on holiday (as a lot of Scottish people go on holiday early July before the English schools break up).
In my experience solicitors don't get someone else to cover their work, it's just left until they come back.

Is the flat still advertised online as available?

porthege908

ellie99 said:

That does seem longer than normal. My first thought is perhaps one or both solicitors have been on holiday (as a lot of Scottish people go on holiday early July before the English schools break up).
In my experience solicitors don't get someone else to cover their work, it's just left until they come back.

Is the flat still advertised online as available?

No, it's been marked as 'Under Offer' since the day my offer got accepted.

ellie99

user1977 said:

Normal. The qualified acceptance often needs to wait until selling solicitor has titles, knows what consents etc exist, and generally has had a chance to go through 30-something pages of contract with their client. Plus obviously it’s peak holiday season so if solicitor and/or clients are away then it’s bound to take longer.

That's very true. However in my experience, the seller would normally reply fairly quickly with their acceptance and conditions (including agreeing a date of sale for example). Then when the buyer replies to that they are at the "conclusion of missives" stage. 

OP, I wouldn't be concerned yet if it's marked as under offer. Try checking in with your solicitor next week, my own solicitor responds quicker to email queries nowadays, maybe try that first?

user1977

ellie99 said:

user1977 said:

Normal. The qualified acceptance often needs to wait until selling solicitor has titles, knows what consents etc exist, and generally has had a chance to go through 30-something pages of contract with their client. Plus obviously it’s peak holiday season so if solicitor and/or clients are away then it’s bound to take longer.

That's very true. However in my experience, the seller would normally reply fairly quickly with their acceptance and conditions (including agreeing a date of sale for example). Then when the buyer replies to that they are at the "conclusion of missives" stage. 

Bear in mind the qualified acceptance needs to cover everything in the offer, not just the "important" stuff like price and date of entry. A standard condition for example is that there are consents for all alterations - if the seller isn't already prepared to answer that, there can be a delay while they check with previous solicitors / lenders etc what paperwork exists. And there is often a bit more to-ing and fro-ing before you get to conclusion of missives.

porthege908

user1977 said:

ellie99 said:

user1977 said:

Normal. The qualified acceptance often needs to wait until selling solicitor has titles, knows what consents etc exist, and generally has had a chance to go through 30-something pages of contract with their client. Plus obviously it’s peak holiday season so if solicitor and/or clients are away then it’s bound to take longer.

That's very true. However in my experience, the seller would normally reply fairly quickly with their acceptance and conditions (including agreeing a date of sale for example). Then when the buyer replies to that they are at the "conclusion of missives" stage. 

Bear in mind the qualified acceptance needs to cover everything in the offer, not just the "important" stuff like price and date of entry. A standard condition for example is that there are consents for all alterations - if the seller isn't already prepared to answer that, there can be a delay while they check with previous solicitors / lenders etc what paperwork exists. And there is often a bit more to-ing and fro-ing before you get to conclusion of missives.

Thank you both! Hopefully things will start moving this week or so.