how to speed along solicitors?

[PrunellaDeVille]

house buying novice, i and DH have owned but I have never bought, we had our offer accepted at noon and already i'm tearing my hair out.
i'm 6 months pregnant and somewhat hormonal which may be aggravating matters.

it was a bid process, as part of the offer we put forward that we can move swiftly in terms of having funds quickly accessible and a solicitor briefed and ready to proceed BUT

the solicitor has already let me down by not sending through a simple confirmation of their quote promised at midday by email, now closed for the weekend.
meanwhile i've given their details to the EA and these have been passed around to all parties.

would you stick with a solicitor who falls behind at the very first hurdle?
is it too late to change to a new solicitor without worrying the sellers that we're already flaky?
are there any best practice ways to make the conveyancing run smoothly that i might not know about at the outset or is it just all downhill from here?

[PrunellaDeVille]

oh and am i just plain being unreasonable already?

[user12785]

We moved into our first house when I was 8 1/2 months pg, due to slowness of solicitor. Had started process while TTC, and there was no chain. Only way we got in in time was by me staging a hugely pg sit-in at our sols. We exchanged & completed 3 days later. You need to nag. Politely but shamelessly and constantly. Good luck!

[minipie]

1. you need to phone them to chase. Lots and lots.
   
   but
   
   
2. you do need to lower your expectations a bit. I think it would be a bit OTT to switch just because they didn't confirm a quote at the exact time promised - it's not like anything is actually dependent on it is there? Pick your battles - chase them relentlessly when you actually need them to do something.

[Mandy21]

I wouldn't switch your solicitors at the moment, but would try to set a few clear objectives with your solicitor at the start. If the quote is fixed fee, then its not too bad to chase, if your solicitor is working on an hourly rate then don't phone him on a whim (as you'll be charged for his time), he should be in touch when he has something to report.

I'd set out that you'd like all contact via email or mobile telephone - that way you're not waiting for post and unlikely to miss calls. Set a deadline if at all possible (but make it reaslistic). Set out that you want to be in new property within 6 weeks / 8 weeks whatever it is, and say that you need him to work towards that. Provide him with all of the documents up front (mortgage offer etc) and get on good terms with his secretary if you can.

You have to be on top of it, but not be too aggressive!